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Caitlin Moore
UCO Photo Services
1
Central Missouri UCM (9-1-0, 3-1-0)
2
Winner Central Oklahoma UCO (7-3-1, 3-1-0)
Central Missouri UCM
(9-1-0, 3-1-0)
1
Final
2
Central Oklahoma UCO
(7-3-1, 3-1-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Central Missouri UCM 0 1 1
Central Oklahoma UCO 1 1 2

Game Recap: Women's Soccer | | Chris Brannick

UCO upsets No. 2 Central Missouri

EDMOND – Central Oklahoma scored late in the first half, early in the second half, and held off a rally to upset No. 2 Central Missouri 2-1 in Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association play.
 
Katie Killion scored her fifth goal of the season in the 42nd minute to put UCO up 1-0. It was the first goal scored against Central Missouri all season, the Jennies had shutout its first nine opponents.
 
After the teams returned from halftime, it didn't take long for the Bronchos to add to their lead. In the 51st minute, Caitlin Moore took a pass from Mikayla Lowery over the middle of the field. She found herself with open space, dribbled past a few defenders and with a just a glance at a shot, Moore took one and put it in the top corner of the goal to make it 2-0 UCO.
 
Jada Scott added a goal in the 86th minute for Central Missouri to close the gap, but the UCO defense held its ground and took the victory.
 
"I told them, on paper I think we're as good as this team," UCO head coach Mike Cook said. "They got some confidence rolling, but you know what, if we play like we're capable of playing, I think we can beat this team. So I tried to model that as a coach, hey, if I'm confident, let's just go out and work hard and see what happens."
 
Ally Salls got the win for UCO. The sophomore played the full 90 in goal, and wasn't tested much at all in the first half. Central Missouri had only taken two shots by halftime. The visitors ratcheted up the intensity and forced Salls to do the same in the second half. Salls finished with five saves on the day after Central Missouri took nine second-half shots.
 
Cook was thrilled to beat the second-ranked team in the country, but he wasn't surprised. In 19 years, Cook has been ranked in many polls, he's gone to the national tournament 10 times, and he built the Bronchos into a winning program. So he knew his team had a chance to win on Friday.
 
"I told them, they haven't played anyone like us," Cook said. "And we haven't played to our potential. I feel like we could be undefeated right now. But we just haven't played to our potential.
 
"This is a great confidence booster for our program. As we've moved over to the MIAA, we pretty much dominated the Lone Star Conference and we were that team everyone wanted to beat. To Central Missouri's credit, they're that team in the MIAA right now. We tell our kids, let's get us back to that point where we're the team everyone is trying to beat and let's try to win this conference."
 
Cook said scoring goals at the end of the first half, and the beginning of the second half was crucial in the win. He added too, that UCO should have got a shutout on Friday, had they played the full 90 minutes with the same high intensity.
 
"Oh, that just gave us the confidence," Cook said of Killion's goal in the first half. "It put some doubt in their minds, it gave us some confidence, and we just got to play a better second half. To get that goal early in the second half was huge."
 
Cook continued.
 
"I think it really put them on their heels. Unfortunately, after our second goal, we kind of backpedaled a little bit and just, kind of, sat back. And you can't do that against a good team. We have to play 90 minutes, the same way, with the same intensity, and finish strong."
 
The Bronchos are back in action on Sunday. UCO hosts Lindenwood at 1 p.m. at Tom Thompson Field.
 
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