OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University ended its season with a 3-2 loss to Oklahoma Christian in the NAIA Region VI women's soccer semifinals on Monday.
The Stars' Sarah Leonard booted in both goals unassisted. Leonard scored the first goal at 10:53 into the match and the other one at the 76:29 mark.
Leonard, a freshman from West Yorkshire, England, caught Oklahoma Christian goalkeeper Lisa Jorgenson out of the net on the second goal. Jorgenson left the goal to stop Leonard, then fell. Leonard dribbled away from Jorgenson and booted the ball in from 25 yards away to cut OCU's deficit to 3-2.
At that point, OCU had Laurie Suter in as an extra forward and defender Erika Garbrecht out.
The Stars finished the season 14-5-1. Oklahoma Christian advanced to the regional championship.
"The second goal energized us," OCU coach Brian Harvey said. "We were unlucky at the end. You hate for it to end this way, but overall, we had a good season."
Kristin Brown, Taryn Caylor and Ashley Stevenson each scored goals for Oklahoma Christian.
"The referee lost an offside call," Harvey said. "He was 3 yards behind the play."
Seniors Molly McGinnis and Whitney Ward played their final games for the Stars.
McGinnis, from Broken Arrow, Okla., was a four-year contributor to the Stars, during which time OCU produced a 55-21-10 record with two Sooner Athletic Conference titles. Known for her intelligent play, she scored her only career goal against College of the Ozarks as a sophomore.
Ward, from Amarillo, Texas, was a team captain and four-year starter for the Stars. She has developed a reputation as a clutch scorer with 10 career game-winning goals. Overall, she had 20 career goals and 10 assists.
OCU returns Leonard and Jennifer Crawford, the Stars' top two scorers from this season.
Leonard had 13 goals and four assists, while Crawford had six goals and four assists.
"Sarah and Jenny make a good combination," Harvey said. "They?ll be very experienced. We're in the throes of recruiting and working to strengthen our overall team."