Huskers Face Oklahoma State and Kansas in Final Homestand

Lincoln -- The Nebraska soccer team will compete in its final homestand of the regular season this weekend, when the Huskers play host to Oklahoma State and Kansas.

NU will host the Cowgirls at 7 p.m. Friday and the Jayhawks at 1 p.m. Sunday at the Abbott Sports Complex. The Huskers will try to wrap up their perfect home season in their final two home games.

Nebraska is 9-3-1 on the season and 4-1-0 in the Big 12 Conference. The Huskers are a half-game behind Colorado in the conference standings and a half-game ahead of Oklahoma State.

The Cowgirls come into the game with an 11-1-2 record and a 3-1-2 mark in conference action. Kansas enters the weekend at 11-3-1 and 3-2-1 in the Big 12.

The Huskers are coming off a double-overtime win over Oklahoma on last Friday night and a day off on Sunday.

Oklahoma State suffered its first loss of the season last weekend, falling to Iowa State, 3-1, and tied Missouri, 1-1. Kansas defeated Iowa State, 2-0, and dropped Missouri 2-0.

The Huskers lost their first game in the history of the series with Oklahoma State last season in Lincoln. OSU defeated Nebraska 2-1 in a game that turned the Huskers season around. NU did not drop another game after falling to the Cowgirls until its loss in the NCAA Sweet 16.

Nebraska faced Kansas twice in 2002, tying 1-1 in the regular season and winning 2-1 in the Big 12 Tournament opener.

The Huskers will welcome back Canadian National team members Brittany Timko and Tanya Dennis from the Women's World Cup for the remainder of the season.

Where to Find the Game
Nebraska's games against Oklahoma State and Kansas can be heard live on KRNU 90.3, as well as at Huskers.com. The Huskers' home games as well as the Big 12 Tournament games will be carried for the second year on KRNU 90.3 and can be found at Huskers.com. A student team of Chris Liberto, Dave Hunt and Tony Gorman will call the action throughout the season. The game can also be followed statistically with live stats at Huskers.com.

The Last Time We Met
Nebraska has an all-time combined record of 15-1-1 against Kansas and Oklahoma State and the one loss and one tie came last season.

The Huskers took their first loss in school history to the Cowgirls, 2-1, in Lincoln on Oct. 25, 2002. OSU's Jere Boykin put the Cowgirls on the board early with a goal at the 4:28 mark. Senior defender Breanna Boyd knotted the game at 1-1 almost 25 minutes later, but OSU got the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes remaining in the contest.

NU was awarded two penalty kicks in the game that senior Christine Latham uncharacteristically missed. The Huskers outshot OSU, 19-7, and posted 10 shots on goal to Oklahoma State's seven.

The Huskers tied a tough Kansas team in Lawrence, 1-1, during the regular season in 2002. The game was NU's third tie of the season and Christine Latham scored the tying goal, which made her the all-time points leader in Nebraska school history.

The Huskers got another chance at the Jayhawks in the Big 12 Tournament opener. It was another hard-fought game. Latham and Lindsey Ingram produced the goals, while the defense played one of its best games of the season.

Scouting Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State lost its first game of the 2003 season last weekend, when it dropped a 2-0 decision at Iowa State. The Cowgirls also picked up a 1-1 tie against Missouri to give them an 11-1-2 overall record.

OSU has led the conference for a majority of the season, and now is a half game behind Nebraska in third place.

Oklahoma State leads the nation in scoring offense with 53 goals on the season. The closest team behind them is Southern University with 32 goals this year.

The Cowgirls are led by conference scoring leader Adriane Radtke with 31 points on 12 goals and seven assists, as well as Jolene Schweitzer, who has 25 points on 10 goals and five assists, Kim Graves has added 23 points on eight goals and seven assists.

Radtke is a freshman and has won conference newcomer-of-the-week honors on two occasions. She is also tied at 11th in the nation in goals per game through 12 contests.

Nikki Wojtowicz leads the country in assists with 14 in 12 games, and goalkeeper Kathrin Lehmann is leading the NCAA in goals-against average (0.213).

The Cowgirls have wins over Texas Tech, Baylor and Texas and a 0-0 tie with Texas A&M in the Big 12 Conference.

The 11-0-1 start OSU got off to was the best start in school history. The Cowgirls have started 10-0 the last two seasons. OSU was 10-0 in 2002 before dropping to 13-7-0.

The Cowgirls are coached by Karen Hancock, who earned co-Big 12 Coach-of-the-Year honors along with G. Guerrieri from Texas A&M.

Scouting Kansas
The Kansas Jayhawks are 11-3-1 and 3-2-1 in the conference after wins over Missouri (2-0) and Iowa State (2-0) last weekend.

KU tied Texas A&M 1-1 and has losses to Texas (1-0) and Texas Tech (3-2). The Jayhawks are 6-2-0 on the road and are led by Caroline Smith with 30 points on 14 goals and two assists.

Kansas has outscored its opponents 30-12 and has outshot them 218-149.

Meghan Miller has seen almost all of the minutes in the KU goal, posting 60 saves and a 0.78 goals-against average.

Kansas is coached by Mark Francis and posted an 11-7-2 record in 2002. The Jayhawks return eight starters from last season. KU finished at 4-5-1 and in sixth place in the Big 12 Conference in 2002.

The Last Time Out
Nebraska got a chance to catch up on some rest last weekend, playing just one weekend game for the first time this season.

The Huskers defeated Oklahoma 2-1 in double overtime on Friday night, before the Sunday hiatus.

Jessie Bruch provided the game-winning goal in the 104th minute when OU's goalkeeper deflected her initial shot back to her, and Bruch chipped it over her head for the win.

Lindsey Ingram scored the Huskers' first goal to knot the game at 1-1 when she was fouled inside the box and awarded a penalty kick.

OU's Becky Nelson put the Sooners on the scoreboard first when she scored on Oklahoma's second shot of the entire game and the first shot of the second half.

Despite the small margin of victory, NU dominated the field of play with a 42-6 shot advantage, and a 20-2 shots on goal edge.

The Husker defense looked outstanding against the Sooners, keeping the ball on OU's side of the field for the majority of the contest.

Up Next
After wrapping up the 2003 home schedule this weekend, the Huskers will face their biggest road test of the season since the North Carolina-Duke weekend at the beginning of September.

Nebraska will travel to Texas to take on Texas A&M in College Station on Friday, Oct. 24 and Texas in Austin on Sunday, Oct. 26.

The trip to Texas could go a long way in deciding the Big 12 Conference winner for the season.

Following the weekend in Texas, Nebraska will travel to Boulder, Colo., to face the Big 12-leading Colorado Buffaloes in the final regular-season game of the season.

Harms Honored on Senior Day
The Huskers will recognize Christy Harms for her contributions to the Nebraska soccer team for the past four years before the game Sunday afternoon against Kansas.

Harms started 58 of her 79 games in a Husker uniform before tearing her ACL this season against Mississippi State.

No. 9 recorded 44 points in her career on 18 goals and eight assists.

The senior defender moved to the backfield as a junior, where she earned Big 12 Tournament Defensive MVP honors in 2002.

Harms scored the opening goal in 2002 against the second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels to lead NU to a 1-1 tie.

She helped Nebraska post 14 shutouts last season as well as an 0.86 goals-against average.

Phillips To Be Recognized
Although Paige Phillips traded in her jersey for a spot on the bench as a student-assistant coach in 2003, the NU standout will be recognized for all she has brought to the Nebraska soccer program.

Phillips was a part of four NCAA Sweet 16 appearances, two Big 12 regular-season titles and three Big 12 Tournament championships in her four years as a player.

Now Phillips will try to help the Huskers to even greater success as a student assistant coach.

Phillips has had a busy few weeks. The senior from Omaha, Neb., is the president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board and will be honored Saturday as a member of the 2003 NU homecoming court at the NU vs. Texas A&M football game.

To add to her busy schedule, Phillips ran in the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon Sunday while the Huskers took the day off from the soccer field. She clocked a time of 3:43.11 and finished 128th in her division.

Welcome Back
The Huskers will be glad to see teammates Brittany Timko and Tanya Dennis up close and in person instead of watching them on their TV screens this week. Timko and Dennis return to the team from the 2003 Women's World Cup, where they competed for the Canadian National Team for the last month.

Timko played all 540 minutes in six contests of the World Cup and notched one assist in the tournament. Dennis played 450 minutes in the back in the first five games.

The pair will rejoin Nebraska for the remainder of the season with five regular-season matches remaining and the postseason ahead of them.

Husker Domination
A tribute to the Nebraska offense and defense, NU has outscored its opponents 25-17 on the season and has outshot the opponents 254-156.

Nebraska is averaging 1.87 goals-per game, despite only putting up single goals in five games.

The Huskers have 41 more shots on goal than their opponents, with a 120-79 advantage.

Doing what they do best, Nebraska has nearly tripled its opponents' corner kicks, taking 110, compared to 39 by the opposition.

Fired Up
The Huskers had a big day on the offensive side of the field last weekend against Oklahoma, posting a season-high 42 shots against OU.

The last time Nebraska got off more shots was during the 2001 season against Evansville. On Sept. 23, 2001, Nebraska posted 43 shots. The Huskers also took 45 shots in the second game of the 2001 season against Alabama-Birmingham.

Nebraska also got off 20 shots on goal against the Sooners. It was the highest number of shots on goal since the Huskers got off 22 shots on goal against Belmont during the 2002 season.

Full Rotation
The biggest advantage to having Brittany Timko and Tanya Dennis back on the field will be the added depth they will give the Huskers.

With injuries throughout the season, including senior Christy Harms' season-ending ACL tear, and the two out of commission competing for the Canadian National Team, the Huskers' bench has been thin.

Nebraska has averaged 4.84 substitutions per game through the first 13 games of the season.

Those two extra subs could make a huge difference on the field with fresh legs coming off of the bench for NU.

Nationally Ranked
Jenna Cooper and Kari Hogan are listed in the top 27 athletes in the country in assists per game. Cooper is tied at 10th among Division I players in games through Oct. 5, 2003, with eight assists and 0.67 assists per game on the season.

Hogan was tied at 27th with seven assists and 0.58 assists per game.

Oklahoma Pair Get Second Shot at State School
Sophomores Nikki Baker and Aly Scace hail from Oklahoma and earned bragging rights against one state school last week, when they helped the Huskers defeat Oklahoma, 2-1.

Now the pair will get a chance to take out the other state school in Oklahoma State this weekend. The two did not have that privilege as freshmen, when OSU beat the Huskers for the first time in NU school history.