UCO Hits The Road For Season Opener

9/2/2015 9:57:00 AM

UCO READY FOR OPENER: Central Oklahoma makes the long trek to Minnesota to open the 2015 soccer season this weekend, with the Bronchos set to play a pair of Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rivals.

UCO goes to St. Paul to take on Concordia-St. Paul at 7 p.m. Friday before moving on to Mankato to play No. 6-ranked Minnesota State-Mankato at 12 p.m. Sunday.

The Bronchos play their third straight road game next Thursday, Sept. 10, at Southwestern Oklahoma and makes their home debut Sept. 12 against Southern Nazarene.

ABOUT THE BRONCHOS: UCO returned five starters and five other letterwinners from last year's 14-5-3 team that finished fourth in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II national tournament.

The Bronchos relied on stout defense last year, recording a school-record 15 shutouts and allowing just 13 goals in making their 10^th national playoff appearance.

Leading the returners is senior defender Quinn Tookey, a first-team All-MIAA and second-team All-America selection last season. She was the lone player to start all 22 games in 2014 and scored five points with three assists and one goal.

UCO's other returning full-time starters are senior defender Courtney Cox, junior defender Ashley McDaniel, senior midfielder Emily Precure and junior defender Kenzie Sublett.

Precure, a second-team All-Central Region selection last year after scoring 11 points (five assists, three goals), will miss the opening weekend to injury. Sublett was a third-team All-Central Region pick who scored seven points (three assists, two goals) in 2014.

Junior midfielder Kenna Dyess, sophomore midfielder Courtney Essary, senior forward Kimberly Linder, senior midfielder Paige Matacchiera and sophomore goalkeeper Elle Stove all saw part-time starting duty for the Bronchos last fall.

UCO also has 18 talented freshmen on the roster and a number of those newcomers will earn immediate playing time.

ABOUT THE COACH: Entering his 17^th year at the UCO helm is Mike Cook, who has led the Bronchos to six conference titles and 10 national tournament appearances.

Cook is the only coach in school history and has a 253-90-24 record at UCO. He's 341-112-25 in 22 years as a head coach, ranking third in victories and 12^th in winning percentage (.740) among all-time Division II coaches.

ABOUT THE OPPONENTS: Concordia-St. Paul went 5-11-2 last year and the Golden Bears will also be making their season debut Friday in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.

MSU-Mankato is the defending NSIC champion and is a heavy favorite to repeat. The Mavericks went 22-1 last year, suffering their only loss in the quarterfinals of the national tournament.

MSU-Mankato has a 2-0 series lead over the Bronchos, including a 3-0 season-opening win in Edmond last year.

Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Related Stories