Sportswriter Callie Hummel gives an update on the season so far for the Hurricane and what to look forward to going into the game against Memphis.
Having played 14 games this season, Tulsa’s women’s soccer team continued to hold onto their winning record as they went into their game against Temple, despite having played games every three to five days since their first game on Aug. 8. Instead of going up against a college team for their first game, Tulsa was given the opportunity to play the Paraguay U20 team, which was in town for practice against the college teams in the area. At the home game, Tulsa fell only 0-1 to the national team.
In their two most recent games, the team went up against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 19 and South Florida on Sept. 24. Against Pine Bluff, junior midfielder Isold Runarsdottir scored two goals while goalie and graduate student, Emma Malsey, took the shutout with a 2-0 final score. At home against South Florida, both teams held the score at 0-0 for the entire 90 minutes of regular play, requiring extra time. The game went into overtime, where whoever scored first won. The first 15-minute half of overtime still resulted in a 0-0 score; however, during the second half in the 109th minute, South Florida player Madeleine Penman-Derstine scored, making the final score 1-0.
Runarsdottir currently leads the team in goals at six. In her sophomore season last year, she scored a total of six, meaning she has already matched her all-season scoring half-way through the 2021 season. In the game against Central Arkansas on Sept. 2, Runarsdottir’s goal with only eight minutes left in the game tied it up 3-3, bringing the game into overtime and allowing her teammate, Liliana Fernandez, to put the ball in the back of the net for a 4-3 overtime win. Runarsdottir also scored in the game against Oral Roberts, which ended with a 2-1 win proving that not only is she a lead scorer, but is also a clutch player. Although she is dominating on the offensive line for Tulsa, they have 29 total goals with a large variety of players having scored each one. The team is fortunate to be full of scorers, since Runarsdottir is unable to play in the next game against Temple on Sept. 30 due to an injury.
Goalkeepers Emma Malsy, a grad student, and Raegan Beeding, a sophomore, are splitting the playing time and playing in alternate games. Playing in five games so far, Beeding has emerged with a 0.839 save percentage. Against Missouri State, Malsy held the offense from scoring for two high intensity overtime periods at the mercy of the golden goal before the match ended in a stalemate. Malsy has also recorded two shutouts this season against Pine Bluff and Creighton.
In the shut out home game against Creighton, sophomore forward Jadyn Chee got her first goal in her collegiate career after scoring the game winner from outside the 18 yard box with less than five minutes left to make the final score 1-0.
On Oct. 7 the team is back at home at the Hurricane soccer and track stadium at 7:00 p.m. with an inevitably challenging conference game against Memphis, who is currently holding an 8-1-1 record after playing against multiple Big 10 teams.
