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September 8, 2008

VIDEO: OU still struggling on the pitch

Michael Kinney

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In all her years of playing soccer, Oklahoma’s Sage Coralli had never gotten the chance to play against her older sister, Alexa. Whether it was club teams, high school and into college, the pair were unable to occupy the same field at the same time.

That changed Sunday, when Alexa and her Rice University team traveled to Norman to face a struggling Sooner squad. Not only was Sage looking to earn family bragging rights, but also help snap her team out of the doldrums they found themsevles in.

Unfortunately for Oklahoma, it was the elder Coralli who left the game with the upper hand as Rice defeated OU 1-0 at John Crain Stadium.

“We were taking a bunch of shots,” Coralli said. “It just wasn’t happening for us today.”

It was the second loss of the weekend for the Sooners and it dropped their record to 1-4. And like Friday’s overtime defeat to North Texas, the critical play happened late in the contest.

With less than three minutes left in a scoreless game, Rice (3-1) attempted a corner kick. The ball came to Anne Candee and the OU defense didn’t converge on her quick enough. That may have been the one mistake they made all day and it hurt them as Candee smashed a shot past goalie Lisa Jett.

“I think they put together 86 minutes of soccer,” OU coach Nicole Nelson said. “Inexperience and lack of urgency on the corner cost them the game.”

It wasn’t as if the Sooners didn’t have their chances. The totaled 16 shots, with 11 coming in the second half when they looked to be playing on a more enthusiastic level.

But one of the problems Nelson said her team has had all season is finishing scoring opportunities. Last week that was the main part of their game that OU worked on the most during practice. It hurt them in their previous four games, and it cost them against Rice.

“We have been working on that,” Coralli said. “And we are going to continue to work on that. It’s something we need to work on.”

Coralli led the Sooners with four shots taken.

However, the Oklahoma defense may have played its best game of the short season. Ashley Bolden, Katie Corbitt, Michelle Alexander and Jett had the Owls under wraps much of the game.

But that didn’t last long as Candee scored in the 88th minute and the Owls held on the final two minutes to get the win.

Despite the loss, Coralli will remember the game for different reasons. Even though they didn’t do much talking during the game, the Coralli sisters knew how special it was to face off.

“This is the first time ever playing against her,” Sage said. “It was a great experience. She gives me a good challenge. The most competitive side of us came out. It was fun.”

However, now the Sooners face the prospect of going to Memphis Friday still trying to find out what type of team they are.

“I think we will continue to work on our attack,” Coralli said. “We are a very young team and we have a long road ahead of us.”

Michael Kinney

366-3537

mkinney@normantranscript.com

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