Box Score (html)
ALVA, Okla. – The Bulldogs claimed a series sweep over in-state rival Northwestern Oklahoma State, 3-0, on Thursday night for a fourth-straight multi-goal road victory over Great American Conference opposition to remain unbeaten in league play.
The victory moves SWOSU to 10 wins on the season, only the third time a Bulldog soccer team has achieved the feat since the program started in 1998. All three 10-win seasons have come under SWOSU Head Coach
Mark Persson, and the Bulldogs have won the GAC every year they have surpassed the 10-win mark.
Olivia Butler made short work of finding the breakthrough, scoring an unassisted goal inside the first 30 seconds of the match. Her low effort to the far post got the better of Northwestern goalkeeper Kylee Wallace to open her scoring account for the season and put the Bulldogs up 1-0.
The match calmed down from there before reaching a crescendo as the clock marched towards halftime. A flurry of chances by
Cori Kelly,
Ashlyn Collier and
Sarah Wilson all ended in saves by Wallace, who had six saves in the half to prevent SWOSU from breaking the match wide open. The Dawgs went into the interval sporting a 1-0 lead, holding an 8-3 shot advantage, including six shots on goal to the Rangers' none.
Coming out of the break, Northwestern elected to change keepers, going with the more experience Briana Legaspi. Though she kept made four saves through the first 40 minutes of the match, the Bulldogs were eventually able to press their advantage and got the better of her thanks to Wilson in the 86th minute. The freshman latched onto the end of a
Samantha Nunez-flick on after
Charlotte Eastman whipped in the ball from the wing for the easy goal. The goal was the first of Wilson's career, and doubled the Bulldogs lead.
In the very last second of the game, Eastman sent a speculative effort towards the goal. The shot beat Legaspi from well outside the box, giving SWOSU an exclamation mark and a 3-0 score line in the 90th minute.
A stifling defensive performance, led by reigning GAC Defender of the Week
Dajhane Turner and
Kylee Bertrand, limited Northwestern to just four shots, three below their season average.
Courtney Flores, the reigning GAC Goalkeeper of the Week the last two weeks, was only troubled into one save to preserve her ninth straight shutout, doubling her career total in just over two-thirds of a season.
SWOSU (10-2-1, 6-0-1 GAC) return home after three games on the road for a home contest against East Central on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the Athletic Complex.
