Ashland University's women's soccer team took sole possession of first place in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference on Wednesday (Sept. 28) night at Ferguson Field, defeating Kentucky Wesleyan, 2-0.
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The Eagles, now with a three-point lead in the conference, are 7-3 overall and 5-1 in the league. The Panthers are 2-7, 1-5.
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"That's the difference between us winning this game and us dropping points, is we were able to keep the shutout and find ways (to score) in the first half," said Ashland head coach
Cayleb Paulino. "Hats off to the group to keep another clean sheet."
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Ashland improves to 3-0 all-time against KWC.
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WHAT HAPPENED
- The Eagles opened the scoring in the 17th minute, as sophomore forward McKinley Mendenhall scored her second goal of 2022 in front of the KWC net on a pass from sophomore midfielder Merrik Mihalek, her second assist of the fall.
- In the 23rd minute, AU made it a 2-0 game when freshman forward Dani Hicks fired a laser into the back of the Panther net following a corner kick from Mendenhall. For Hicks, it was her third goal of the season; for Mendenhall, her team-best seventh assist.
- "We put her in a different role today. She started up front with Bailey (senior forward Bailey Clark)," said Paulino of Mendenhall. "We're trying to get her closer to goal to create more chances."
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THE WRAP-UP
- Senior goalkeeper Bri Rogers made two saves in recording her fourth shutout of the fall and 12th of her Eagle career.
- Ashland had a 2-to-1 shots advantage (14-7), and took 10 of the game's 11 corner kicks.
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UP NEXT
The Eagle women will stay home to take on Trevecca Nazarene (5-2-2, 3-1-1) on Saturday (Oct. 1) at noon. Following the game, the
Danny Krispinsky Memorial Shelters will be dedicated (
PRESS RELEASE).
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