Cowgirls Tie At Vanderbilt

Oklahoma State got a pair of goals from freshman Courtney Dike Sunday as the Cowgirls battled Vanderbilt to a 2-2 tie at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.

The 110-minute match was a shootout from the get-go, with Vandy recording 24 shots to 16 for OSU. Cowgirl goalie Rosa Medina collected a career-high 11 saves in the contest, while Olivia Liebman had eight for VU.

"That was two very good teams going at each other early in the season," said OSU head coach Colin Carmichael. "Vanderbilt has incredible pace up front and did a great job trying to exploit us in the back. They're going to be a handful for people – they're a very nice team who can give a lot of teams in the SEC trouble.

"It was a shootout. Both team's offenses were better than both team's defenses today. They had 14-15 good looks at goal, and we probably had 10-12. (The score) could have just as easily been 5-5. Both keepers made good saves, both defenses made some good plays. If Vandy had lost, they would feel hard done by and if we had lost, we'd feel hard done by so maybe a tie was just about right."

The Cowgirls (1-0-1) took a quick lead just 7:10 into the match. Madison Mercado sent a great pass ahead to Dike, who took the ball in stride, beat a charging Liebman and chipped in a shot from just inside the 18-yard box for her first-career goal.

Vandy got the equalizer off a free kick in the 21st minute. After the foul near midfield, Erin Myers sent a ball into the box that Krystina Iordanou headed past Medina to knot the score at 1-1.

The Commodores (0-1-1) took the lead with 12:54 remaining in the opening half. After Hayley McKinney fouled Cheyna Williams in the box, Abby Carr stepped up for the penalty kick. Medina guessed correctly, diving to her right, but was unable to make the save as Vandy took a 2-1 lead.

OSU would trail until the 70th minute when the Cowgirls converted a corner kick into a score. Allie Stephenson sent the kick into the box where it was headed by Dike into the back of the net to make the score 2-2.

Neither team could manage a score the rest of the way, though there were plenty of opportunities.

Lauren Reyes came up with a pair of big defensive plays for the Cowgirls down the stretch, blocking a shot by Simone Charley with 36 seconds left in regulation, then saving a Charley header off the line early in the first overtime.

Vandy outshot OSU, 5-3, in the overtime periods with both teams recording a save during the extra time.

OSU returns to action Friday with its first home game of the season when the Cowgirls host Bedlam-rival Oklahoma in a non-conference showdown at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex.