CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah University women's soccer team continued to make history Friday evening, dominating South Dakota to remain undefeated and earn their fifth straight victory, setting a new record for the longest winning streak in SUU soccer history.

"When you do something that has never been done before in a 20-year history, it's very special," said SUU Head Coach Kai Edwards. "We've worked incredibly hard for nine months and during preseason so that we could accomplish special things, and today was really something special for our team."

Just as they have done in each of their previous four games this season, the Thunderbirds came out with an incredibly high level of intensity in the first half, pressing their attack early and creating high-quality opportunities. 

The T-Birds broke through in the sixth minute on a beautiful offensive build-up and finish by Rachael Hunt. Kate Schirmer played a great ball across to Hailey Hamataka on the left side of the field, who made a great pass back to the middle of the box to Hunt, and she was able to find the back of the net with an exceptional finish to give SUU a 1-0 lead.

The two squads maintained similar possession time over the next 20 minutes, and SUU goalkeeper Megan Short came up with a huge save in the 28th minute to maintain a clean sheet in the net. The Southern Utah lead remained 1-0 going into halftime, as Short and the Thunderbird back line completely shut down a dangerous South Dakota offense for the majority of the first half.

Southern Utah's back four continued to control the tempo of the game in the second half, not allowing the Coyotes to generate any quality chances early in the period. 

In the 62nd minute, Hunt came through again for Southern Utah, heading a ball past USD's goalkeeper off of a corner kick from Libby Anderson, increasing the SUU lead to 2-0 with 38 minutes to play. 

The Thunderbirds continued to wear down South Dakota throughout the remainder of the second half. The SUU bench stepped up in a huge way, with multiple nonstarters entering and making a big impact on the game. 

"We had players really perform off the bench today, which was awesome. Our bench really allowed us to spread minutes out on our team, which is really important on a long weekend like this," said Edwards.

SUU continued to dominate possession and outwork the Coyotes, as they went on to pick up the 2-0 victory over South Dakota, improving to 5-0 on the year.

Notable Stats

• Rachael Hunt is now tied for second in goals on the team with three goals this season.

• Southern Utah maintained possession for 58% of the match.

• Megan Short recorded four saves in the contest, securing her third complete-game shutout of the season.

• SUU has only allowed one goal in five matches this year.

• After tallying an assist on Hunt's first goal, Hailey Hamataka now ranks second on the team in total points this season (8).

• The 2022 SUU women's soccer team now holds the program record for the longest winning streak ever.

Coach Edwards Postgame Interview

Up Next

Southern Utah will have a quick turnaround, returning to the pitch on Sunday at 11 am MT, where they will host an incredibly talented Cal State Fullerton team. The Titans are coming off of a 1-0 victory over the University of Utah, but SUU will look to extend their perfect start to the season.

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