The Lady Eagles triumphed 2-1 against Illinois’ McKendree University in a near literal battle on the soccer field.
Sophomore Carley Cooley said the game felt intense from the beginning.
“Throughout the game tensions were building, especially since the other team was thinking the referees were giving us a lot of stuff,” Cooley said. “Towards the end the referees got a little touchy on fouls so of course the whistle was going constantly.”
Areli Bermudez Delgado scored Oklahoma Christian University’s first goal, a penalty kick, in the 30th minute.
The Lady Eagles maintained control of the game for another 30 minutes before the Bearcats’ Sydnee Carroll took advantage of a loose ball directly in front of the goal and tapped it into the net.
Cooley said everything escalated once the challenge arose.
“Finally they ended up scoring and we were tied, so at that point it was cutthroat,” Cooley said. “Everybody was at everybody trying to score.”
Five of the seven total yellow cards issued during the game occurred after the Bearcats’ goal, with McKendree University earning four of those five cards.
Bearcat goalkeeper Taylor Zerbe shoved Cooley from behind during a penalty kick and earned the final yellow card – giving Oklahoma Christian the opportunity to score with another penalty kick.
Rubi Villegas Aguilar shot and scored on Zerbe with 25 seconds left in the game, and the Lady Eagles controlled the field until the end.
Cooley said this was the toughest she’d seen the Lady Eagles play in a long time and credited it to team camaraderie.
“A lot of it is team chemistry,” Cooley said. “All in one mind thinking, we really need to step it up to pick it up, especially after our game on Friday. After winning that, I think our team realized we were capable of playing really good soccer and winning.”
Oklahoma Christian hosts two games this week, with the first one against St. Edward’s University on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
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