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The Cowgirls have now lost two of their last three matches to Arkansas, dating back to last year. The Hogs (2-0-0) ended Oklahoma State's season last year in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. They had the Cowgirls' number once again Sunday night in front of a record crowd for the Razorbacks.
The Cowgirl defense came out napping, and the Hogs took advantage. Arkansas struck only 64 seconds into the match to take a 1-0 lead.
After giving up the early goal, Oklahoma State played aggressively for the second straight game, out-shooting Arkansas 19-11, but still struggled to find the back of the net. The Cowgirls managed nine shots in the first half, but went into the locker room with a goose egg.
It wasn't until the 72:07 mark that OSU's Madison Mercado found the equalizer with a nice left-footed shot into the upper right corner of the net.
Disaster struck with under three minutes left in the match though. The Razorbacks Ashleigh Ellenwood unlocked the Cowgirl defense, and handed OSU its second defeat of the season.
"It was a good game, very entertaining to watch," OSU head coach Colin Carmichael said after the game. "We can't give up a goal early, especially against a good team like that, and expect to come back and win - it's difficult. Having said that, we clawed our way back and played some great soccer. Early in the second half, I thought we were clearly the dominant team, had some great looks and scored one."
Although Oklahoma State hasn't showed it yet, the 2014 season holds a lot of potential for the Cowgirls. That potential may start to shine through once leading scorer Courtney Dike returns to the team this week from the FIFA Under-20 World Cup. Dike and Nigeria finished second in the tournament after falling to Germany last night, 1-0, in extra time.
A complete Oklahoma State squad will be tested this weekend at home, against two top five opponents. The Cowgirls will open up at home Friday night against No. 2 Florida State than take on No. 5 Florida Sunday afternoon.