ST. PAUL, Minn. - On Saturday afternoon, the University of Northwestern Women's Soccer Team braved the windy conditions, taking on Crown College. UNW entered the match unbeaten in their opening five conference games and quickly demonstrated why they have yet to face defeat in UMAC play. The Eagles scored twice in the opening 20 minutes and tacked on three more goals in a span of 13 minutes in the second half to cruise to a 5-0 win for their third straight shutout victory.
It took just 11 minutes for the Eagles to get the ball into the back of the net.
Marie Kendall (Dakar, Senegal/Dakar Academy) delivered a corner that was bobbled towards the top of the box for
Tayla Thomas (Wylie, Texas/Homeschool). Thomas chipped the keeper for the first goal of her Northwestern career and the first goal of the afternoon. Four minutes later, Kendall took a free kick from 25 yards out; her shot incredibly hit the bottom of the crossbar and into the goal to take the Eagles up 2.
The crowded box slowed the UNW attack through the middle hour of the game before Kendall rippled the back of the net once again. After scoring from well outside the box on her first goal, Kendall proved that no distance was too far for her next two. Receiving a pass from
Mercy Erickson (Lewiston, Minn./Homeschool), the sophomore crushed the ball into the top of the goal from nearly 25 yards away, out of reach of the Crown keeper. Kendall completed her hat trick on another free kick opportunity in the 76th minute, this one taken from almost 40 yards away. It marked her first hat trick of the season after scoring twice in each of the Eagles' previous two matches. Her free kick found the top bin for an exclamation point on her performance.
Just two minutes later,
Ada Meehan (Waconia, Minn./Homeschool) added another goal after receiving a cross that bounced through the box. Meehan lifted the ball up and over the keeper's hands to secure the 5-0 final.
Kendall led the Eagles with three goals on five shots on target in 75 minutes. Meehan and Thomas also notched a goal with two shots on target.
Naomi Meehan (Waconia, Minn./Homeschool) finished with seven shots and three on goal. The Northwestern defense limited the Polars to four total shots.
Sam Hansen (Cottage Grove, Minn./New Life Academy) played all 90 minutes in goal and secured the lone shot on target to record her fourth clean sheet.
Northwestern is now 6-1-2 overall and 4-0-1 in conference play. UNW goes on the road to take on North Central on Tuesday, October 6th at 1:00 PM.
