The Daily O’Collegian

The Oklahoma State University women’s soccer team has a tough test tonight against fierce Bedlam rival the University of Oklahoma.

Bedlam kicks off at 7:00 p.m. at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex and concludes both team’s regular season play.

The Sooners are 6-9-3 on the season and 2-6-1 in league play. A loss at home to then No. 8 Texas last Sunday eliminated them from any chance to make the Big 12 tournament,

Oklahoma has struggled to find the back of the net this season, scoring just 22 goals through 18 matches, while opponents have scored the same number against them.

Freshman forward Whitney Palmer has been a bright spot for the Sooners, scoring six goals and assisting on another.

Senior Jennifer Nichols and redshirt freshman Tara MacDonald have split time in goal this season and combine for a 1.17 goals against average.

The No. 24 Cowgirls (11-5-2, 4-4-1) lead the all-time series 9-2-1, including  a pair of 2-1 victories from this past season, once in league play and once in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

Sophomore forward Kasey Langdon has been the sparkplug for the attack this season, scoring four goals and accumulating a team-high seven assists.

Senior midfielder Sasa Jackson leads the team with five goals, assisting on three others. Jackson is one of six Cowgirls with three or more goals.

Sophomore midfielder Siera Strawser could miss the Bedlam showdown because of an injury she picked up in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Colorado.

“She’s day-to-day,” coach Colin Carmichael said. “We hope to be able to have her in some capacity for Thursday’s game.”

Strawser, who has scored four goals and assisted on another, has started every Big 12 game this season for the Cowgirls, being deployed as a forward and a midfielder.

Carmichael said he is confident in his other options should Strawser not be ready for the game.

“I think Katie Richardson went in up top and did a good job and we have Adriane Radtke who’s possible,” Carmichael said. “So we’ll take a look at practice and decide what we want to do.

“If Siera plays, that’s great, but if she doesn’t, I still think we have a good enough squad to win.”

Richardson is a freshman forward who has scored three goals and assisted on four others. Radtke is a senior and co-captain who has scored four goals and assisted on five after being converted to forward from midfield .

Carmichael said a victory in the Bedlam game will be important in many ways.

“We need the win first and foremost because it’s Bedlam, we need the win for NCAA tournament purposes and we need the win for Big 12 seeding,” Carmichael said. “I think it’s fair to say that anybody in the Big 12 would like to avoid A&M in the first round; they’ve kind of been the class team, and if you’re the eight seed, which we would be today, we’d have A&M.

“So we’d like to avoid that if possible. If we play them, we will go down there and give it our best shot, but we would prefer to avoid them,” Carmichael continued. “By winning, it gives us a chance to do that, and I think the rest of the seven teams are all evenly matched, and really it would be a wide-open tournament.”

Carmichael also said he doesn’t believe OU’s poor record means it will be a one-sided game.

“I think it makes it a tougher game for us because this is their Big 12 championship, this is their Super Bowl, this is their cup final, whatever you want to call it,” Carmichael said. “It’s for the Bedlam Bell; this is their chance to win a trophy.

“We know their seniors are going to come in here and fight, and being a rival game, I think they will take their best shot, so it makes it a little bit more dangerous; they can play loose, there is no pressure on them.”

The Cowgirls have a chance to improve their seeding for the Big 12 tournament, as Colorado and Kansas, both above the Cowgirls in the standings, will have to fight hard for victories at No. 12 Texas and against No. 20 Missouri, respectively, on Friday night.

Colorado and Kansas losses combined with an OSU victory would vault the Cowgirls into a tie with Texas Tech for the fourth seed.

Tech has completed all of its games, and tiebreakers would determine who would receive the fourth seed.