Owasso splits soccer doubleheader with Broken Arrow

Junior forward Millie Byerly scored the only goal of the game over 11 ½ minutes in for Owasso (7-1 overall, 1-0 in 6A-3)

“What led to that is we prioritize the film room a lot, and on film, we saw that their center backs stay really close together and their outside backs stay wide,” Owasso girls coach Abraham Khalil said. “So there is this huge gap between center back and outside back and we knew the whole game, we were target those spaces to play, and Millie, she knew where to run, and we knew where to play it, and Millie is the fastest girl in the state, so once the ball got there, she just capitalized.”

It would be all the Rams needed as the score stood and they would get their district opening victory.

“We brought a great game from the first minute to the last minute,” Khalil said. “We’re a team that is very defensively sound. Today, we did what we needed to do. Our girls gave 100 percent from the moment we set the tone, once we got that goal, we never let them back in. That’s all we needed to do.”

Owasso would be playing stiff defense throughout most of the second half as Broken Arrow (5-2, 0-1) would be trying to score to tie the game. With under 19 minutes left in the game, it looked as if the Tigers would tie the game when junior forward Addison Castleberry nearly kicked into the net. But her shot was too high as it landed on top of the net instead and the Rams remained on top by one goal.

“It was really an intense game for our defense, especially in that second half, BA had the wind and we didn’t,” Khalil said. “So they had more chances to get up and play those long balls they like to play, but our back four did great with the intensity. We train at a high and intense level, they’re really tough kids and the higher the pressure, the bigger they grow, and they grew together in those moments.”

Owasso is now tied with Norman North and Yukon for first place in the 6A-3 girls’ standings.

It was a different result in the boys’ game. Both teams engaged in a fierce defensive standstill in a scoreless first half before Broken Arrow cracked the scoreboard, ultimately getting the shutout.

The Tigers (8-1 overall, 1-0 in District 6A-3) got their first goal when junior midfielder Joshua Ngoyi made a kick that traveled in a 25 to 30-foot straight line to the goal past Ram sophomore goalkeeper Martin King with over six minutes into the second half. Senior Evan Boss was credited with the assist.

“Going into the first half, we knew we just had to weather the storm because we knew the wind was a big advantage,” Broken Arrow boys’ coach Jordan Schmoker said. “Once we knew we had the wind to our advantage, we knew we were going to take those chances and come our way.”

The second goal for BA came when with 9:23 left, junior forward Hector Pacheco put the ball in the net from short range, with freshman forward Bryce Acosta getting the assist.

Once the Tigers moved ahead, Owasso fought harder to make scoring efforts, but to no avail.

“Broken Arrow is a really good team,” Owasso boys coach David Bolding said. “They were in the state final last year. Games like this come down crucial moments, and tonight the crucial moments just didn’t go our way.

“The kids battled hard and played hard. You couldn’t ask for anything else,” Bolding said.

Broken Arrow now sits tied for first with Norman North and Yukon atop the boys’ 6A-3 district standings, but has the best record among the three.

Owasso plays its next games on Tuesday, 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., at Ponca City, while Broken Arrow returns home the same night for games at the same times against Putnam City North.