The Horngs Frogs toppled the Sooners 2-0 Friday night courtesy of a goal in each period and a strong overall performance from sophomore goalkeeper Katie Lund, who made four saves en route to her sixth shutout of the season and her ninth complete-game shutout of her career.
Head coach Eric Bell was proud of his group’s performance on the night, praising the team’s defensive intensity all night.
“It was a total team effort from defending and not giving up a lot of chances; to attacking and creating a lot more chances and making the goalkeeper make saves,” Bell said. “We were able to get people more minutes that haven’t played a lot throughout conference play. It was good to get them some quality minutes.”
TCU came out of the gate with emphatic play, firing off a plethora of shots on Oklahoma’s goalkeeper McKinley Crone. Crone made five saves in the first half on 13 total shots from the Frogs. TCU also attempted seven corner kicks in the frame.
The 30th minute saw a breakthrough from the Frogs. Junior forward McKenzie Oliver’s hard work on the play found freshman midfielder Yazmeen Ryan in front of the net who fired off a shot on goal, sneaking the ball just under the crossbar for her third goal of the season and first career game-winning goal to give the Frogs a 1-0 lead. Oliver recorded her third assist of the season and sixth of her career.
The Frogs wasted little time in the second half to earn an insurance goal. Senior forward Emma Heckendorn attracted a multitude of Sooner defenders and found a wide-open sophomore midfielder Tara Smith who dribbled to the end line and converted her shot past Crone. The goal was Smith’s third goal of her career. Heckendorn notched her fourth assist of the season and 20th of her career.
The two goals from the Frogs on the night came off the feet of TCU’s two Oklahoma natives. Ryan hails from Norman and Smith is a Tulsa native.
Bell was ecstatic following the match, knowing that the team finally earned an offensive breakout game that his team was in desperate need of.
“We have been waiting for a little bit of a breakout from a goal-scoring standpoint,” Bell said. “We keep on working on it and we were able to put a couple in the back of the net. I’m happy for Yazmeen and Tara to get into the books against their home-state team.”
Lund saved the Frogs in the late stages of the half as she was forced to make three saves late in the match to preserve the victory.
Up next for the Frogs is their final road test of the regular season. The Frogs will travel to Ames, Iowa for a Thursday night match-up against the Iowa State Cyclones. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
