ST. PAUL, Minn. – Coming off of its biggest win of the season, the University of Northwestern Women's Soccer team showed no signs of slowing down on Saturday. The Eagles celebrated two seniors playing their final season in purple and gold with Senior Day festivities and they delivered with a 5-0 win over North Central University.
The two seniors recognized for their contributions to the program were
McKenna Gordy (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti) and
Samantha Kothari (Lacrosse, Wis./West Salem). The pair helped spearhead an impressive UNW defensive effort that held the Rams scoreless. Gordy and Kothari have played in a combined 73 games and made a combined 28 starts in their careers.
On the offensive side of the ball, it was the usual suspects doing the damage for Northwestern.
Haley Mersberger (Kiel, Wisc./Elkhart Lake Glenbeulah) got the party started in the 13
th minute, knocking home a
Megan Moeller (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan Christian School) miss that ricocheted off the crossbar into her lap. In the 31
st minute, Mersberger found the back of the net off an assist from
Meghan Corbett (Sartell, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral).
After escaping the scattered showers during halftime, the Eagles extended their lead to 3-0 when
Megan Moeller (Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan Christian School) received a pass from
Briella Babcock (Byron, Minn./Byron) in the 55
th minute and scored an impressive goal with her non-dominant, left foot. Babcock and Mersberger would connect again in the 61
st to give the sophomore her fourth hat trick of the season. In the 68
th minute, Kohrt scored UNW's fifth and final goal of the game off of Babcock's third assist of the afternoon. Babcock's three assists were a career-high for the sophomore.
Moeller led the Eagles in shots with 10 and three of them were on goal. Mersberger shot eight times and five times on goal, while Kohrt added seven shots and two on goal. In addition to her three dimes, Babcock tallied three shots, two of which were on goal. Corbett,
Elle Bush (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) and
Mya Chan (Brandon, S.D./Homeschool) each logged a shot on goal as well.
Samantha Hansen (Cottage Grove, Minn./New Life Academy) made two saves in the shutout win before giving way to
Delaynee Bohatta (Hammond, WI/St. Croix Central) for the final 13 minutes.
Northwestern will look to continue its stellar play Tuesday night at Reynolds Field when they host the Bethany Lutheran Vikings. Bethany and UNW are battling for UMAC Playoff seeding so it promises to be an entertaining match. Kickoff is slated for 4:30 PM.
