CEDAR CITY, Utah - A pair of header goals gave the Southern Utah University women's soccer
team a 2-0 Summit League victory over UMKC in the Thunderbirds fourth annual
Breast Cancer Awareness match on Saturday afternoon.
SUU (4-6-1, 1-2 Summit League) received goals
from junior forward McKenzie Hadley and redshirt-sophomore forward Stacy
Brinkman and a shutout performance by redshirt-sophomore goalkeeper Charly
Booth to earn their fourth straight home victory. The Thunderbirds finished
with a 20-6 shot advantage over the Kangaroos (1-11, 0-3 Summit League)
including a 9-1 margin at the half.
"Today was a fantastic event with a great
crowd that showed great support for a great cause and for our soccer team that
played very well today," head coach Brian Stock stated. "I was happy to see our
team put together a good performance on such a special day."
Playing in front of a large and enthusiastic
crowd and wearing its all pink uniforms in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, Southern Utah was on the attack early and often. The Thunderbirds took the match's
first nine shots and nearly got on the board after a wild scramble in the
front of the UMKC goal in the 10th minute. Following a shot by senior defender
Allison Thompson that was knocked away by UMKC keeper Jami Finnell, junior
forward Elyse Alexander corralled the rebound and fired away from the right
side of the box. Finnell was there once again for a leaping save but could not
gather in the ball and Alexander again got the rebound and fired on goal but
Finnell again deflected the shot wide to keep it 0-0.
Minutes later and following a UMKC foul,
sophomore midfielder Morgan Bridge sent a free kick from just outside the right
18-yard mark into the Kangaroo box that Hadley won position for and headed one
into the left side of the goal for her second score of the season to give SUU a
1-0 lead at the 11:28 mark.
The Thunderbirds would stay on the attack and
hold possession for most of the first half, forcing Finnell to make eight saves
to keep it 1-0 at the break.
UMKC opened the second half with re-newed
energy and nearly evened things up early on but Booth made an incredible save
to preserve the 1-0 SUU lead. A Kangaroo forward had got behind the SUU defense
and one-timed a shot off a right cross that Booth came out and dove to her
right to make the save.
Southern Utah regained form after that and
continued on the attack before putting the match away in the 80th
minute. Alexander gained possession and took the ball all the way up the right
sideline before sending a perfectly placed right cross into the box that
Brinkman won position for and re-directed via header into the back left corner
for her third goal of the season and push the lead to 2-0.
Booth and the SUU defense would do the rest,
limiting UMKC to just two shots in the final 10 minutes and holding possession
throughout most of the match to earn the important conference victory.
"We have continued to work on those set
pieces and have been looking to get some pressure in the box when we have those
opportunities," Stock added. "Both Morgan and Elyse made some great plays to
give us and chance and both Hads (Hadley) and Stacy worked hard to make two
very nice finishes. I was glad to see Charly get another shutout too. She
continues to play with more and more confidence and once again played very well
for us."
Junior midfielder Riley Basset led the team
with five shots while Hadley finished with three shots-on-goal. Bridge picked
up her second assist of the season while Alexander recorded her team-leading
third assist. Booth made two saves to post her third shutout of the season while UMKC's Finnell made 11 stops.
The Thunderbirds continue Summit League play
next weekend, hosting South Dakota State University at 4 p.m. on Thursday and
North Dakota State University at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Saturday will be SUU's
10-Year Anniversary celebration as part of Southern Utah's homecoming weekend.
