Oklahoma State Match in Big 12 Tournament Bumped Up, Cowgirls Collect All-League Honors
STILLWATER – The same storms expected in Oklahoma later in the day on Wednesday are forecast to come through Kansas City and potentially disrupt the first day of the 2024 Sprouts Farmer’s Market Big 12 Soccer Championships at CPKC Stadium. Also, on Tuesday the Big 12 announced the All-Big 12 Soccer Team for this season and the Cowgirls were very well represented.
Oklahoma State is the No. 5 seed and is playing No. 12 seed Cincinnati, who they defeated 1-0 this season back on Oct. 13. The Cowgirls, who finished 13-3-3 for the season are working on making the NCAA Tournament, and they were originally scheduled to play Cincy at 10:30 am on Wednesday. Now that match will begin at nine a.m. central time.
If Oklahoma State defeats Cincinnati they will play No. 4 seed BYU at 11:30 am on Saturday in Kansas City. The Cowgirls tied BYU earlier this season 2-2 in a match played in Provo, Utah. Below is the schedule for the first round matches in the tournament on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s schedule:
Match 1: No. 12 Cincinnati vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State, 10:00 a.m. ET/9:00 a.m. CT (ESPN+)
Match 2: No. 9 Colorado vs. No. 8 Utah, 11:45 a.m. CT/10:45 a.m. MDT (ESPN+)
Match 3: No. 10 Baylor vs. No. 7 Arizona, 2:30 p.m. CT/12:30 p.m. MST (ESPN+)
Match 4: No. 11 Arizona State vs. No. 6 Kansas, 5:15 p.m. CT/3:15 p.m. MST (ESPN+)
The All-Big 12 Soccer Team featured three Cowgirls on the first team and three players on the second team. OSU had Katelynn Hoppers on the All-Freshman Team. No surprise with Morris, Laudan Wilson, and Xcaret Pineda all on the first-team. The surprise may have been record setting goalkeeper Grace Gordan on the second-team. I would have thought she was a shoe-in for the first-team with 15 shutouts this season breaking the school record held by Adrianna Franch.
The All-Big 12 list was headed by Alex Morris as the senior defender was named the Top Scholar Player in the Big 12 in soccer.
Morris earned the first Scholar-Athlete of the Year award for the Cowgirl program. The senior graduated with a degree in biology/pre-medical science with a 3.89 GPA in May 2023 and is now working toward a graduate certificate in health care administration. The wing back has played in every match this season, helping the OSU backline to hold its opponents to eight goals in 19 matches.
Big 12 Soccer All-Big 12 Awards
Coach of the Year: Eric Bell, TCU
Forward of the Year: Bella Diorio, TCU*
Midfielder of the Year: Oli Pena, TCU
Defender of the Year: Macy Blackburn, Texas Tech*
Goalkeeper of the Year: Jordan Nytes, Colorado
Freshman of the Year: Kierra Blundell, Arizona State
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Alex Morris, Oklahoma State
As for the actual team, here is the complete list with the Cowgirls in bold.
First Team
GK Jordan Nytes, Colorado
GK Faith Nguyen, Texas Tech
D Avery Frischknecht, BYU
D Faith Leyba, Colorado
D Caroline Castans, Kansas
D Alex Morris, Oklahoma State
D Maddie Mooney, TCU
D Macy Blackburn, Texas Tech*
D Annika Leslie, West Virginia
MF Xcaret Pineda, Oklahoma State
MF Laudan Wilson, Oklahoma State
MF Morgan Brown, TCU
MF Oli Pena, TCU
MF Peyton Parsons, Texas Tech
MF Lilly McCarthy, West Virginia
F Allie Fryer, BYU
F Chloe Netzel, UCF
F Lexi Watts, Kansas
F Seven Castain, TCU
F Bella Diorio, TCU*
F Caroline Kelly, TCU
F Ashleigh Williams, Texas Tech
Second Team
GK Grace Gordon, Oklahoma State
GK Megan Plaschko, TCU
D Aranda Hurge, Arizona
D Kelly Bullock, Utah
D Jazmin Brown, K-State
D Mollie Breiner, Oklahoma State
D Jennie Immethun, TCU
D Cassie Taylor, Texas Tech
MF Gianna Christiansen, Arizona
MF Enasia Colon, State
MF Mika Krommenhoek, BYU
MF Mackenzee Vance, BYU
MF Juliauna Hayward, Colorado
MF Lauren Memoly, TCU
MF Jillian Martinez, Texas Tech
MF AJ Rodriguez, West Virginia
F Nicole Dallin, Arizona
F Kierra Blundell, Arizona State
F Tyler Isgrig, Baylor
F Gracie Bindbeutel, Oklahoma State
F Taylor Zdrojewski, Texas Tech
F Taliana Kaufusi, Utah
F Taylor White, West Virginia
All-Freshman Team
Kierra Blundell, Arizona State
Lucy Kesler, BYU
Mika Krommenhoek, BYU
Jace Holley, Colorado
Jillian Gregorski, Kansas
Katelyn Hoppers, Oklahoma State
Morgan Brown, TCU
Cameron Patton, TCU
Peyton Dyess, Texas Tech
Bella Woods, Utah
Gianna Koss, West Virginia
* unanimous selection