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HOUSTON, Texas -- Junior goalkeeper Allison Leone logged her fifth consecutive clean sheet and senior Iris Dunn's 15th minute goal proved to be the match-winner as WKU remained perfect in C-USA play with a 1-0 victory at Rice on Friday evening.
The Lady Toppers (8-3-0, 3-0-0) sit atop the C-USA standings following their fifth straight shutout, a streak that now spans 533 minutes since WKU last surrendered a goal against LSU on Sept. 8. Friday's victory was also the first in program history against the Owls (4-4-1, 1-2-0), who were picked to finish second in the preseason C-USA coaches' poll.
Despite trailing 18-7 in total shots and 9-2 in shots on goal, WKU held Rice off the scoreboard behind a strong effort from Leone. The Kennesaw, Ga., native played the full 90 minutes and made nine saves for the Lady Toppers, just one shy of her season high at Memphis on Aug. 21. Several of the stops came on diving saves as the junior picked up the 18th shutout of her career on The Hill to push the Lady Toppers to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2013.
Samantha Colley played the full 90 minutes between the posts for the Owls, making one saves while surrendering only Dunn's match-winner.
Rice threatened offensively early in the match, forcing Leone into action for a pair of saves in the 13th minute. Aliza Wolfe's initial attempt was pushed out by Leone, and Lianne Mananquil's shot off the ensuing corner was corralled by the goalkeeper to maintain the early deadlock.
Dunn broke through with her third goal of the season for WKU at the 14:19 mark on a strong individual play. The senior forced a turnover in the midfield before bringing the ball up the right side herself. After playing into the box, Dunn sent a high-arcing shot over the reach of Colley and into the side netting of the goal to give the Lady Toppers a 1-0 advantage.
In the 38th minute, the Owls came inches from equalizing on Jenny Fichera's strike from the top of the box. The defender struck the underside of the crossbar and the ball bounced off the ground before being cleared by WKU's defense, sending the two sides into the locker room with the Lady Toppers up 1-0.
Early in the second half, Leone tallied four saves in an eight-minute span, including two just 50 seconds apart, to again rob the Owls of an equalizer. Marissa Topolski had a pair of chances saved in the 56th minute, while Annie Walker was denied twice in five minutes as WKU maintained its 1-0 lead.
Bria Mosley and Chandler Backes each had chances to double the Lady Topper lead. Mosley found herself in space after a pass into the left side of the box, but sent a shot just over the bar in the 63rd minute, while Backes struck the post and nearly notched her 10th goal of the season at the 79:10 mark.
WKU will wrap up its Texas road swing with a visit to preseason C-USA favorite North Texas on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. The Lady Toppers will be looking to avenge a narrow 1-0 setback in last year's C-USA Tournament against the Mean Green in a matchup that will feature the conference's top two scorers in Backes and Rachel Holden.
Season tickets are available online at WKUSports.com or by phone at 1-800-5-BIGRED. A $25 flexible ticket package is available that includes all four remaining regular season home matches against Middle Tennessee, UAB, UTSA and Old Dominion.
For more information on WKU Soccer, visit WKUSports.com or follow the team via social media @WKU_Soccer on Twitter and on Facebook at facebook.com/WKUAthletics.
