ORU Soccer Tops Missouri State For Season-Opening Win

Senior Mary-Kate Halsmer started her final season with a bang on Friday evening as she scored a clutch goal in the 88th to give the Oral Roberts women's soccer team a season-opening victory against Missouri State 2-1.

Megan Giles found Halsmer in the middle of the box and the senior struck the ball out of the air for the game-winner with just 1:33 seconds remaining in regulation. Giles finished the match with three points as she scored the first goal of the evening in the 70th minute with the helper from Jennifer Abernathy.

It was the first victory by ORU (1-0) over Missouri State (0-1) in six tries, dating back to the 2007 season. The win also marks the official start to the Roger Bush era as the head coach for the Golden Eagles.

After Giles gave the Golden Eagles a 1-0 lead, Missouri State answered back with a goal just over nine minutes later off the foot of Shelby Stewart.

Helen Erb earned the victory between the posts as she recorded five saves in 90 minutes of action.

Four different Golden Eagles had shots on target in the victory with Jennifer Abernathy and Kayla Keller recording quality shots along with Giles' and Halsmer's goals. Keller led the squad with three total shots and Ashley Martin added a pair of looks.

The Golden Eagles will next be in action next Friday at home as they host former conference foe UMKC at the Case Soccer Complex. Kickoff is schedule for 7 p.m.