Oklahoma
Houston
Nebraska
NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma soccer team opens the 2022 season this weekend with a pair of matches. The Sooners face Houston on Thursday at 7 pm CT in the season opener at John Crain Field before a road trip to Lincoln, Neb., to play Nebraska at 1 pm Sunday.
Thursday’s game will be the broadcast debut of SoonerVision on ESPN+ while Sunday’s match vs. the Huskers will be available to watch via Big Ten Plus. Tickets for Thursday’s match are available via SoonerSports.com/tickets and available at the gate at John Crain Field. Adults are $7 and youth tickets are $5.
The Sooners, under third-year head coach Mark Carr, look to build off a 2021 season that saw them close by winning four of their last six to make the Big 12 Soccer Championship quarterfinals. OU finished 8-11-1, including a 6-2-1 mark at home, for a seventh-place finish in the conference.
NEW FACES
New faces will be on display for OU in 2022 as the Sooners have 18 newcomers on the roster: 14 true freshmen and four transfers. The 2022 recruiting class ranked 11th in the country via Top Drawer Soccer and No. 1 in the Big 12. The class featured five recruits ranked in the top 20 for their region, including three four-stars, a trio of three-stars and a two-star prospect.
OU’s four transfers (Brooke Amos, Emma Hawkins, Taylor Hunter, Makinzie Short) bring talent across the pitch. Hawkins looks to be a goal scorer for the Sooners, bringing 34 career goals in her three years at UCA. Short will look to start in goal with 62 career saves at Nebraska. Brooke Amosyounger sister of fifth-year veteran Bri Amos, made 15 starts a season ago as a freshman at Rogers State. Hunter played in 40 career games at North Texas as a defender, making 14 starts and scoring four goals over her three seasons in Denton.
Senior transfer addition Emma Hawkins tallied five of the Sooners’ nine goals in last week’s 9-0 exhibition win over Texas State.
KEY RETURNS
Fifth-year senior and high-point scorer from a season ago, Bri Amos, looks to pick up where she left off in 2021. A career year from the Tulsa product saw her score six goals, make five assists and rack up 17 points for OU a season ago. She put 58% of her 46 shots on target and tallied a team-high three game winners. Second-year Sooners Leonie Weber and Ella Pappas brought back a combined five goals, five assists and three game-winning goals. Staples over the past few years in the midfield and on the defensive side, junior Cailey England (33 career starts) and sophomore Sheridan Michel (19 career starts), will look to continue their runs as vital pieces to Carr’s squad.
Senior captain Bri Amos returns for her fifth year after tallying a team-best 17 points in 2021, including six goals and five assists.
OPENING WEEK STORYLINES
• Defend John Crain Field: The Sooners were 6-2-1 a season ago on their home pitch, including winning four of their last five games in Norman.
• Preseason Picks: Oklahoma was picked sixth in the 2022 Big 12 Soccer Preseason Poll after a seventh-place finish in 2021. The Sooners received one first-place vote in this year’s poll.
• Hot Start: The Sooners played one exhibition contest this fall, beating Texas State 9-0 last Friday in Frisco, Texas, at the Toyota Soccer Complex, home of FC Dallas. Emma Hawkins scored an incredible five goals in the match, while Leonie Weber and Bri Amos also found the back of the net with Amos tallying a pair. In net, three OU GKs combined for the shutout.
FOR THE FANS
Thursday’s home opener will feature free thunder sticks and scarves at the gate on a first-come, first-served basis. Also available will be the 2022 OU Soccer poster.
UP NEXT
After the Sooners face Nebraska in Lincoln on Sunday, OU will return to John Crain Field for a big non-conference matchup vs. No. 8 Arkansas on Thursday, Aug. 25 at 7 p.m
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Soccer, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_WSoccer) and like Oklahoma Soccer on Facebook.