Huskers Hope to Continue Momentum Against Baylor, Oklahoma

Game 13: Baylor (5-3-3, 1-2-1) vs. Nebraska (7-2-3, 1-1-1)
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Date: Friday, Oct. 4
Time: 4 p.m. CST
Location: Nebraska Soccer Field, Lincoln, Neb.

Game 14: Oklahoma (6-6-1, 1-3-0) vs. Nebraska (7-2-3, 1-1-1)
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Date: Sunday, Oct. 11
Time: 1 p.m. CST
Location: Nebraska Soccer Field, Lincoln, Neb. 

Fresh off a victory over Oklahoma State, the Nebraska soccer team looks to keep its unbeaten home streak intact (6-0-1) as the Huskers host Baylor and Oklahoma in a pair of Big 12 Conference matches this weekend at the Nebraska Soccer Field.

The Huskers (7-2-3, 1-1-1 Big 12) are looking to make a move in the league standings as they will square off against the Bears on Friday at 4 p.m., before facing the Sooners on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Nebraska has been very strong at home, posting 6-0-1 mark this season. The only non-victory was a 1-1 tie against No. 19 Arizona State on Sept. 20. Last weekend, the Huskers defeated Green Bay (3-1) and Oklahoma State (2-0) in the beginning portion of a four-game homestand that concludes this week.

Friday's game is UNL Faculty & Staff Appreciation Day as the first 100 faculty and staff members will receive free admission and a bag of Colby Ridge popcorn.

Sunday is free T-shirt day, as the NU Marketing Department will give out Husker soccer T-shirts to the first 150 fans.

Live stats (Huskers.com) and live audio (krnu.unl.edu) will be available for both games.

Husker History vs. Baylor
Nebraska leads the all-time series against Baylor, 12-5-0, including wins in 10 of the first 11 meetings. The Bears have been tougher in recent years, defeating the Huskers four times in the past six matchups and winning the last two contests in 2007 and 2008.

Nebraska entered last year's game at Baylor riding a five-game winning streak, but a goal by Bethany Johnston in the fourth minute was all the Bears needed en route to a 1-0 victory. The Huskers had a definitive advantage in shots (24-7), but were unable to find the back of the net.

Nebraska is 70-32-1 all-time against Big 12 South Division opponents.

Scouting the Baylor Bears
Baylor (5-3-3, 1-2-1) handed Colorado its first conference loss of the season with a 2-1 victory in Waco last weekend to gain its first Big 12 win of the season. The Bears also suffered 1-0 defeats to Texas A&M and Texas Tech, while tying Texas in a scoreless double-overtime bout after a solid 4-1-2 record in the non-conference season.

Baylor's success has been based on its defense, where the Bears have produced five shutouts and allowed just seven goals (0.64 goals per game), the best average in the Big 12 Conference. Senior goalkeeper Gianna Quintana, who assisted on Baylor's game-winning goal against the Huskers last season, ranks No. 1 in the league in save percentage (.844) and goals-against average (0.59).

Junior midfielder Lotto Smith leads the Bears in scoring with four goals, while freshman forward Hannah Gilmore has three goals and three assists to tie Smith for the team-lead with nine points each. A pair of bench players led Baylor's victory over Colorado, as the Bears got second-half goals from freshman defender Lisa Sliwnksi and sophomore midfielder Christine Clark to down the Buffs.

Head coach Marci Jobson is in her second season at Baylor after leading the squad to a 5-10-3 record in 2008. The SMU graduate had previously spent three years at Northern Illinois.

Husker History vs. Oklahoma
Nebraska has historically dominated Oklahoma with an 11-2 advantage in the all-time series, including four straight victories. The Huskers defeated the Sooners last year in Norman, 1-0, on a game-winning header by Carly Peetz in the 71st minute.

Oklahoma's last win over Nebraska came in 2004, while its last victory in Lincoln happened in 2000 to account for the two Sooner wins in the series. The Huskers have shut out Oklahoma eight times in 13 matchups, including 1-0 battles the past three seasons.

Scouting the Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma (6-6-1, 1-3-0) won its first four games of the season, but has lost six of its last eight, including back-to-back losses at Colorado and Texas Tech. Prior to last weekend's road setbacks, the Sooners upset No. 13 Texas A&M (3-2) in Norman on Sept. 27.

Junior forward Whitney Palmer is responsible for more than half of her team's scoring this season, as she has 12 of Oklahoma's 22 goals in 2009. Her individual total is second in the Big 12 Conference (behind NU's Morgan Marlborough), while no other Sooner has more than two goals. Palmer has five goals in the first four conference games after she was named second-team All-Big 12 in 2008.

Freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Devonshire has started all 13 games in the net and leads the league in saves (60, 4.62 per game). However, she is ninth in save percentage (.707) and has given up 1.74 goals per game.

Freshman defender Brianna Turang was a prep and club teammate of Nebraska freshman goalkeeper Emma Stevens in Corona, Calif. (Santiago High School/Slammers FC).

Head coach Nicole Nelson is in her second season with the Sooners after a 3-15-1 campaign in 2008 that included conference wins over Baylor and Iowa State. Nelson was previously an assistant coach at Baylor (2005) and Texas (2006-07) after a three-year head coaching stint Stephen F. Austin (2002-04).

Marlborough Among Nation's Best in 2009
Freshman Morgan Marlborough has only been in a Husker uniform for seven weeks, but is already making a name with one of the best starts in NU soccer history.

For the fourth straight week, the Lee's Summit, Mo., native is the NCAA leader in women's college soccer in numerous offensive categories, including goals (16), goals per game (1.333), points (36) and points per game (3.00). Marlborough had one goal in last Friday's game against Green Bay to put her in a tie for the ninth-most single-season goals in school history.

Nebraska's matchup against Oklahoma on Sunday will put two of the nation's top goal scorers head-to-head, as the Sooners' Whitney Palmer is tied for second nationally with 12 goals (also Stanford's Kelley O'Hara).

Marlborough was voted Big 12 Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Week on Sept. 15 after she turned in six goals and two assists in wins over North Dakota (Sept. 11) and Akron (Sept. 13), including four goals against the Zips to tie the single-game school record. It marked just the third time in Big 12 history that a player has earned two awards in the same week.

Aside from holding four nation-best marks, Marlborough is also the Big 12 leader in shots per game (4.83 pg), second in game-winning goals (3) and tied for seventh in assists (4). Her four-goal performance against Akron is the tied for the best single-game performance in the Big 12 Conference this season. Colorado's Nikki Marshall matched Marlborough's four-goal game in the Buffs' 5-1 win over Oklahoma last Friday.

Marlborough has scored in all but three games this season (vs. Lehigh, at Colorado, vs. Oklahoma State) and has five multiple-goal games.

Marlborough's Season Numbers
GP Goals Assists Points Shots Sh% SOG SOG% GW PK-Att
12    16         4        36       58   .276    29   .500       3     1-1

Huskers Rank Among Best Scoring Offenses in the Nation
Entering the final month of the regular season, Nebraska is ranked No. 2 in the nation in goals (44) and goals per game (3.67). Those marks lead the Big 12 Conference by a wide margin, as Texas Tech is second with 33 goals for an average of 2.54 per contest.

The Huskers have put up 35 goals in seven home games to break the Nebraska Soccer Field season record of 26 set in both 2005 and 2006.

On Sept. 27, NU scored three goals in the first half at Texas Tech to mark the most first-half goals in a Big 12 game by the Huskers since Oct. 30, 2005 (also at Texas Tech). Nebraska's nine goals in a 9-0 victory over South Dakota on Sept. 18 is the best single-game total in the Big 12 this season.

Powell Coming on Strong in Conference Play
Nebraska's leading goal scorer the past two seasons looks to have found her offensive rhythm again, as senior Shay Powell has scored in the Huskers' last two Big 12 games.

Powell produced just one goal in Nebraska's first nine contests, but has increased her offensive production to reach the double-digit point plateau on three goals and four assists (10 points). She had one of the biggest goals of the season last Sunday against Oklahoma State, as she knocked in the game-winner in the 10th minute.

Powell was the Huskers' leading scorer in 2007 (11 points) and 2008 (19 points).

Thomas Continues to Score, Surpasses Freshman Totals
Sophomore Molly Thomas turned in a career-best two-goal, two-assist game in Nebraska's 9-0 win against South Dakota on Sept.18. Those numbers upped her season totals to six goals and three assists (15 points) to surpass her season numbers from 2008, when she finished the year with five goals and one assist. Thomas is tied for fifth in the Big 12 Conference in points.

Peetz, Caniglia Head Down Final Stretch
Senior defenders Carly Peetz and Anna Caniglia are bidding to end their collegiate careers having started every single game as a Husker. Now in their fourth seasons, the duo had each started all 71 games from 2006 to 2009. The seniors are primary reasons NU has held opponents to 1.17 goals per game, including a big shutout over Oklahoma State last Sunday.

Perhaps even more impressive has been the offensive production. Peetz has a career-high eight points this season, including one of the biggest goals of her career against the Cowgirls, as Peetz headed in a free kick from Caniglia to wrap up Nebraska's 2-0 victory. Caniglia and sophomore teammate Blair Slapper are tied for fifth in the Big 12 with five assists each, but Caniglia has the highest total among defenders.

Freshmen See Playing Time in First Year with Huskers
Freshman Jordan Jackson has played in all 12 games this season, scoring three goals on 25 shots, while also tallying one assist. Freshman Bri Exstrom saw her first game action of the 2009 season against South Dakota on Sept. 18 and made the most of her opportunity by notching a goal in the 82nd minute. The freshman class scored five goals in the 9-0 win over the Coyotes and have 20 as a unit (Marlborough-16, Jackson-3, Exstrom-1).

Nebraska has high hopes for its freshman class, which includes goalkeeper Emma Stevens, forward/ midfielder Stacy Bartels, defender/midfielder Taylor Houck and defender Bri Badje.

Review: Huskers Knock Off Defending Big 12 Champs, 2-0
Nebraska used one of its most complete-game efforts of the season to earn its first Big 12 victory with a 2-0 win over Oklahoma State on Oct. 4 at the Nebraska Soccer Field.

Shay Powell put the Huskers on the scoreboard quickly, when her shot from 10 yards away hit the crossbar and bounced over the line to put Nebraska on top, 1-0, at the 10:24 mark of the first half. Nebraska held OSU to two shots in the first half and a 1-0 lead into halftime that it would not relinquish behind a strong effort in the net from goalkeeper Jesica Mills. The Houston, Texas native played one of the best games of her career to keep a talented Cowgirl squad scoreless for just the third time this season.

The NU defense aided Mills' effort by holding OSU to eight total shots, and was responsible for the Huskers' second goal of the afternoon as Carly Peetz and Anna Caniglia teamed up to ensure Nebraska would go home with its first Big 12 win of the season.

Just two minutes after Mills' diving save, Caniglia took a free kick from 30 yards out near the Husker bench, which Peetz headed into the top-right corner of the net to give Nebraska an important insurance goal en route to its sixth home victory of the year and third shutout in 2009.

Up Next: Huskers Take on the Lonestar State
Nebraska will see another pair of Big 12 South opponents next weekend, as the Huskers travel to Texas on Friday, Oct. 16 (7 p.m.) and then host Texas A&M on Sunday, Oct. 18 at the Nebraska Soccer Field (1 p.m.). The Huskers upset No. 8 Texas last year in Lincoln, 1-0, but lost to No. 7 Texas A&M, 2-0, in College Station.

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