TOPEKA, Kan. – The Washburn Ichabod women's soccer team pulled away in the second half on their way to a home conference win over the visiting Missouri Southern Lions on Friday night at Yager Stadium. The Ichabods will close out their two-game homestand at 1 p.m. on Sunday against Pittsburg State.
Both teams traded possession and scoring opportunities in the early stages of the game. The Lions (1-6-4, 0-3-2 MIAA) nearly got on the board first, but
Hailey Beck made a difficult save in the top left corner of the goal off a shot from Missouri Southern's Presley Whitmire in the 12
th minute. Beck made another impressive save in the 30
th minute, knocking a long-range attempt from Whitmire over the crossbar to keep the game scoreless. The first half would end in a defensive deadlock, despite the Ichabods (6-2-2, 3-0-1 MIAA) holding an 11-3 advantage in shot attempts.
Much like last Friday's contest at Nebraska-Kearney, the Washburn offense came alive in the second half. In the 58
th minute, a pass from
Khloe Schuckman split the Lion defense and found an open
Belle Kennedy, who found the back of the net for the second game in a row.
The Ichabods would strike again in the 71
st minute, when
Ana Muruzabal scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season off a
Lindsey Maul cross. Muruzabal nearly added a second goal less than a minute later, but her close-range attempt hit the left side of the net.
Washburn wasn't done scoring, with
Cloe Quintana finishing off a cross from
Katie Kamies in the 81
st minute to give Quintana her second goal of the season and the Ichabods a 3-0 lead that they would take to the final buzzer.
The Ichabods dominated in offensive production, taking 24 total shots, with 10 coming on goal. Kennedy and Muruzabal shared the team lead in shots taken with seven each. Beck made three saves in goal as Washburn posted its eighth consecutive clean sheet and extended its school-record defensive scoreless streak to 748 minutes and 44 seconds.
Missouri Southern took three shots in the contest, all of them on goal. Whitmire led the team with two shots on goal. Bella Smith recorded seven saves in net for the Lions.
