The Ashland University women's soccer team scored a goal in each half and finished the regular season with a 2-0 win over visiting Saginaw Valley on Thursday (April 22) night at Ferguson Field.
The Eagles (7-1-1) ride into the first round of the GLIAC Tournament unbeaten in their last seven games.
"The big thing we emphasized was to bring focus and purpose to everything we did today and I think we did that," said head coach
Taylor Clarke. "We wanted to leave the regular season on the right foot to roll us straight into the conference tournament."
The Eagles were suffocating in the midfield and winning balls to regain possession led to both goals.
"They were huge," Clarke said. "We wanted to make sure they were ready for a few different things that could have been thrown at them. They're a team that comes up with different ideas and we made sure they were on their toes and they adjusted really well. It comes from an emphasis we've placed on our midfield over the last nine months to focus on the attack, the defense and how they communicate with each other."
Ashland's first goal came in the 42
nd minute as senior midfielder
Emily Mark recycled a ball after a mis-cleared cross and she played it to the right side for senior
Rylie Howman.
Howman sent in a diagonal cross that slipped junior
Makenzie Kelly behind the SVSU defense and her square ball found junior
Allison Robertson arriving in the six-yard box at the right time for the tap in.
It was Robertson's second goal of the season and the second assist of the year for Kelly.
The Eagles took their 1-0 lead into the break, then continued to apply pressure in the second half, doubling their lead in the 74
th minute.
Freshman
Vanessa Menchofer intercepted a pass in the midfield then drove into space before slotting an inch-perfect through-ball to junior
Faith Lewis, who cut it back and finished past the SVSU keeper.
Lewis is now tied with Kelly for the team lead with four goals and Menchofer recorded her second assist.
Menchofer, Kelly and Lewis all came off the bench on Thursday as substitutions who made immediate impacts.
"(The front line depth) is really important for us," said Clarke. "For whatever reason, if our first group isn't clicking, so how does our second group come in and make an impact? We don't want our people to go through the motions and skate through the half. We want to be better as the half goes on and players come in and make an impact."
The Eagles kept their second straight clean sheet and their fourth in the last five games as they head into the conference tournament.
Senior keeper
Hannah Lee faced just four shots and did not need to make a save in the winning effort.
Ashland will host the quarterfinal game on Tuesday (April 27) at Ferguson Field against an opponent that is yet to be determined. Kickoff time will be announced later.
AU
WSOC/BB
