Box Score ST. BONIFACIUS, Minn. – The University of Northwestern women's soccer team overcame an early deficit and poured on the offense, securing its highest scoring total since October 20, 2012 in an 8-4 victory over Crown College Friday afternoon. The Eagles used a springboard five-goal and a pair of hat tricks from Jenna Powers (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) and Lauren Cleope (Manila, Philippines/Faith Academy) to notch its sixth win of this year's campaign.

UNW was down early, as Crown scored the first three goals of the contest between the time periods of 3:26 and 21:14. Northwestern proved it was far from rolling over, as Jenna Powers (Fairbanks, Alaska/West Valley) landed a score courtesy of a Jordan Skarin (Buffalo, Minn./Buffalo ) assist at the 27:46 timestamp and then again at the 30:56 point to cut the Storm's lead down by a pair.  

Katie Meinke (Victoria, Minn./Southwest Christian) evened the margin as she found the back of the net after booting a shot from 30 feet out with less than 10 minutes play in the half. As both teams headed to intermission, the playing field was neutral at a 3-3 score.

The second period featured more UNW offensive action courtesy of Powers as Kirsten Aderton (Rochester, Minn./Schaeffer Academy) found the senior for her third goal, giving the Purple and Gold its first lead of the afternoon.

The visitors on the scoreboard continued to pressure, with Lauren Cleope (Manila, Philippines/Faith Academy) taking ownership of the team's next two scores, with Sara Kallhoff (Willmar, Minn./Willmar) and Allie Franzen (Andover, Minn./Legacy Christian ) securing the assist credit for one each in both the 63^rd and 66^th minute of play.

The two squads continued to fight for possession on both of ends of the pitch before Crown would leave its last tally on the board with 7:28 ticking off the clock, but the Eagles would once again respond as #Cleope# made it a hat trick with her third goal in the final minutes of the contest.

#Franzen yet again delivered a successful pass for UNW's final offensive push of the afternoon as (Paynesville, Minn./Paynesville)Lindsay Halvorson# converted to leave the score at a final 8-4 margin as the teams left the turf.

The Eagles owned a 30-14 shot advantage in the 90 minutes of competition, while on the defensive end of the field Emily Johnson (Esko, Minn./Esko) earned the win with three saves. 

Northwestern (6-12-1 overall, 5-7-1 conference) will conclude its regular season on Saturday with a 12 p.m. away contest versus the University of Minnesota Morris. With the current standings in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC), the game has great implications for the Eagles' playoff hopes. A UNW win or tie coupled with a Northland College Saturday loss would ensure the team's bid in the tournament. A Northland loss paired with an Eagle victory would also land Northwestern in the four-team postseason action.