Oklahoma ended Texas’ 13-game undefeated streak at home Sunday when the Sooners upended the Longhorns 2-1 in double overtime. Sooner forward Dria Hampton sent a shot from 30 yards out that sailed over Texas goalkeeper Alexa Gaul, off the post and in to give Oklahoma the win.
The last time the Longhorns didn’t win at home was on Oct. 2, 2009, and the team had never lost to the Sooners at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Texas had plenty of opportunities to capitalize on scoring chances but couldn’t seem to get a foot on the ball when it needed to. Texas took eight corner kicks during the game but couldn’t connect on any of them.
“Of course that’s frustrating. We should have had a body on any of those,” said Texas midfielder Kylie Doniak. “We had a lot of chances that we should have put away.”
Oklahoma got the scoring off in the 10th minute when Sooner forward Whitney Palmer won a 50-50 ball with Texas goalkeeper Alexa Gaul. Sooner forward Caitlin Mooney sent the ball into the box, and Palmer got her head to the ball before Gaul could punch it out, giving the Sooners a 1-0 lead. Palmer is the all-time scoring leader at Oklahoma, and the goal was her eighth of the season.
Texas countered in the 20th minute when Doniak ripped a shot from her left foot that would have left the stadium if the net hadn’t stopped it. Doniak was the beneficiary of a Sooner turnover that left her alone seven yards outside the box.
The pace of the game slowed down in the second half, as neither team was able to get much going forward. Oklahoma was playing with the wind and tried to catch Gaul off-guard several times by sending in shots from near midfield.
Texas’ best chance came during the second half when Gaul sent a free kick from midfield inside the box where Doniak flicked it over to an open midfielder Kristin Cummins, but Cummins couldn’t get a toe to it, and it rolled out of bounds. It was the same song for the Longhorns for most of the night.
“We lacked composure in front of the goal,” Texas head coach Chris Petrucelli said. “There were a number of times where balls came across and we just missed.”
With the loss, Texas (11-4-3; 4-3-2 Big 12) falls to sixth in the conference. The Longhorns solidified a spot in next week’s Big 12 tournament with Friday’s win over Oklahoma State but need as many wins as possible if it wants to ensure a trip to the NCAA Tournament.