OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma City University returns to the pitch for the 2022 season.

Billy Martin, just the second coach in the Stars history enters his third year as head coach of the Stars. He has a number of new faces to work with this year after OCU went 9-8, 4-5 in conference play last year.

Four-time all-Sooner Athletic Conference performer Madi Caputo hopes to continue her success from her midfield spot as she seeks to lead her team to a successful season. The Stars start their season at home 5 p.m. Wednesday against Bethany (Kan.)

TOP RETURNERS

· Madi Caputo, a senior from Broken Arrow, Okla., has achieved two first-team all-conference nods among four all-SAC selections from her midfield spot. Caputo has provided the Stars with 24 goals, 26 assists, 74 points and 10 winning goals during her career

· Senior April Hill from Portsmouth, Petersfield, England started all but one game last year and contributed 10 goals, nine assists and 29 points. Hill, a two-time SAC offensive player of the week, has accumulated 14 goals, 11 assists and 39 points in two years at OCU

· Sofia Caravajal Granados, a senior forward from of Bogota, Colombia, hopes to continue her success from the past seasons. A second-team all-conference honoree in 2020-21, she had eight goals, two assists, and 18 points last year, giving her 20 goals, eight assists and 48 points as a Star

· Madison McEwin, a senior from Owasso Okla., has made 27 starts in her three-year career for OCU

· Senior Millie Templeman of Pocklington, York, England contributed seven goals, one assist, and 15 points last season for the Stars. She has eight goals in her OCU career

NEW FACES

· Twins Piper and Ruby Nichols join the Stars for this coming season. Piper was a second-team all-Arkansas defender at Little Rock Central High School as named by the Arkansas Gazette. Ruby made first-team all-conference as a senior and all-tournament in the state tournament as a junior

· Rylee Orton from nearby Heritage Hall starts her career at OCU as a junior after starting 23 matches at Rose State last year and beginning her college career at Rogers State. She was a member of six state championship teams with her club team

· Gisselle Estrada continues her career as a sophomore after collecting nine goals, five assists, 23 points, and three game-winning goals in 18 games played as a midfielder from the University of the Ozarks (Ark.)

· Saizlee Carlton, sister to Ciana Carlton, scored 14 goals with 12 assists as senior at Amarillo High School

PRESEASON BUZZ

· OCU is set at fourth in the preseason league poll compared to fifth last season which 50 points to end the 2021 season. They finished last season with an overall record of 9-8 and 4-5 in conference play

MEET THE COACH
 

· Billy Martin returns for his third year at OCU after being a longtime assistant to Brian Harvey. He played soccer at OCU as a student-athlete from 1989-91 and established Rose State's men's soccer program, coaching there for six years

· Martin has coached 12 all-conference choices as OCU head coach – seven men's all-SAC choices and five on the women's side. Martin has mentored SAC men's and women's newcomer of the year award winners and one league goalkeeper of the year

• Martin guided Rose State to a 74-35-2 record with four NJCAA Region II regular-season championships and two tournament titles

MARK ON YOUR CALENDAR

• The Stars play Randall at home at 5 p.m. Aug. 30. There are four home games in the month of September against Jarvis Christian (Texas) (Sept. 1), Baker (Kan.) (Sept. 4), and Southwestern (Kan.) (Sept. 10) followed by four straight away games. The Stars finish off their season with home games on Oct. 4, 8, 18 and the 29th

• The SAC Tournament is set for Nov. 4-10. Nov. 4 will be quarterfinals followed by the semifinals Nov. 7 and the finals Nov. 10. All contests will be hosted by higher seeds

• The NAIA Championship Opening Round will take place on Nov. 17-19 followed by the NAIA Championships on Nov. 29-Dec. 5. The Championships round will take place in Orange Beach, Ala.