courtesy @TulsaWSoccer on Twitter

Tulsa women’s soccer wraps up a strong season

Sports writer Callie Hummel discusses conference honors, the final game and recognition of graduating players.

Tulsa women’s soccer finished out their 2021 season with a 6-9-2 overall record and a 1-6-1 conference record. A new player to the team, freshman Madison Williams, proved her importance on the defensive line this season. On Nov. 3 she was named to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie Women’s Soccer Team, a selective group of first-year players who showed outstanding performance throughout the year. There were 12 players selected this year and Williams was one of only four defensive players picked.

Williams is a defender on the team, helping goalkeepers Raegan Beeding and Emma Malsy fend off opposing attackers. She started all 17 games Tulsa has played and competed in all 90 minutes of 13 of those games. Her one assist for the season came during the close game against rival Oral Roberts on Sept. 12. In the 11th minute, Isold Runarsdottir, the lead scorer this season with six goals, received a through pass from Williams and shot past the goalkeeper putting Tulsa up 1-0. Tulsa ended up winning the game 2-1 with the second goal by Mia Darden.

Williams is only the eighth women’s soccer player from Tulsa to be named to the all-conference rookie team. She is playing with three of those former all-conference rookie players Mia Darden, Madison Tokarchik and Kayla Fernandez. The assistant coach for the Hurricanes, Rachel Thun-Blakenship, also earned this award her freshman season in 2014 and went on to score 31 goals in total over her career at Tulsa, leading the team in goals her last two seasons.

Darden just ended her last season with Tulsa with three goals and two assists this season on the forward line and finished her career with 14 goals scored overall. Seven of those goals came from her rookie year. Fernandez finished her junior season as a midfielder with one goal and two assists, and Tokarchik ended her sophomore year on the defensive line with one assist this season.

Tulsa played their last game in the fall 2021 season against Houston on Oct. 28 at home. Houston, with a 13-4-2 record for the season, defeated Tulsa with a 0-2 score. Houston didn’t get their first goal until the 57th minute off of a free kick, and the second one came at the 80th minute from a corner kick. Malsy and Beeding shared the time in goal, and Malsy stopped four shots in her 70 minutes in goal.

This final game was also used to recognize the four graduating players at the game as they competed for the last time with Tulsa. Mia Darden, Addyson Guthrie, Emma Malsy and Georgia Vernardakis were all honored after the game on the 28th.

With the women’s soccer season officially over, the men’s team is just wrapping up their final tournament after claiming the American Athletic Conference Regular Season title and being ranked fifth in the country. They will compete in the conference semifinals on Nov. 10, and the championship game will be on Nov. 13, both of which will be played on Tulsa’s home field.

Post Author: tucollegian