Big Offensive Night Leads WKU Past Kentucky Christian, 9-0

Monday, September 3

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 P.M. CT

Western Kentucky University

2-2-2

Kentucky Christian

0-3

Kentucky Christian

WKU

9/3/2018 9:18:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Seven different Lady Toppers found the back of the net, four of whom tallied their first career goals, and WKU outshot Kentucky Christian 37-0 in a 9-0 victory at the WKU Soccer Complex on Monday evening.

Kerragan Mulzer, Chelsea Moore, Victoria Mayo and Nicole Roseland each scored for the first time in their collegiate careers, and both Olivia Stanley and Tally Bishop scored twice for the Lady Toppers. Chandler Backes, WKU's leading scorer over the last two seasons, also fired her first goal of the 2018 season midway through the opening half.

Much of WKU's damage was done in the first half as the Lady Toppers (2-2-2) scored eight times in just over a 30-minute span to put the match far out of reach for the Lady Knights (0-3). After attempting 32 shots in the opening 45 minutes, WKU had only five in the second half and scored once on Moore's strike in the 58th minute.

In goal, WKU had a historic substitute in the 73rd minute as former four-year volleyball player Sydney Engle subbed on in relief of Bailee Witt. With her 17 minutes of action, Engle became the first Lady Topper and only second known student-athlete in C-USA history to compete in at least one match in the sports of women's soccer and volleyball in their careers. Witt and Engle combined for WKU's first shutout of the season, with neither facing a shot on the night.

WKU's nine goals matched the second-most in a single match in program history and were the Lady Toppers' most since also scoring nine against Morehead State on Sept. 8, 2002. The school record of 12 goals came in the program's first season against Trevecca Nazarene on Sept. 26, 2001.

For Kentucky Christian, Savannah Brewer played the full match in goal, making nine saves and surrendering the nine goals to the relentless Lady Topper attack.

WKU's offense came out of the gates on fire and never looked back on Monday evening, firing eight shots over the first 12 minutes before breaking through the Kentucky Christian defense on Stanley's one-on-one attack at the 11:16 mark. Set up by passes through the midfield from Isidora Pekez and Mulzer, Stanley beat the keeper with a dribble to the left to get the Lady Toppers on the board early.

Nine minutes later, Roseland doubled the lead on her first career goal. Playing in her 61st career match on The Hill, the Altamonte Springs, Fla., native finally found the back of the net on a through-ball from Moore, giving Roseland a one-on-one opportunity which she converted.

Mulzer and Stanley brought the lead to 4-0 with goals less than three minutes apart. Mulzer received a pass from Brooke Tackett at the 23:49 mark and sent the ball into the lower right corner, and Stanley took passes from Mulzer and Christina Bragado before slotting home her effort into the right corner as well.

Backes struck for her 17th career goal at the 33:09 mark to move into a tie for ninth place alongside Betsy Duncan on WKU's all-time goalscoring charts. Roseland directed a pass to Backes on the right side of the box, and the junior fired opposite post to beat Brewer for her first tally of the season.

Just over three minutes apart, Bishop found the back of the net twice, first off a short pass from Backes and again on an unassisted strike. Backes slipped a near-post pass in for the sophomore, who chipped it past the keeper for the 5-0 lead, and Bishop's second was a low shot with 42:45 on the clock to close WKU's scoring for the half.

In between Bishop's goals, Mayo also tallied her first career goal. Sarah Gorham sent a pass out to Tackett on the right wing, who sent a long cross to the far post. After a brief scrum in the box, Mayo fired a blast past Brewer and helped WKU carry an 8-0 advantage into the locker room.

Moore closed the night's scoring with 57:29 on the clock. The freshman sent a laser into the top corner off feeds from Bragado and Stanley to push WKU to the final 9-0 scoreline. Despite not scoring over the final 30 minutes, WKU continued to keep Kentucky Christian pinned back and did not allow a single shot on the evening.

Following Monday's match, WKU will remain on the road for more than a month, with five straight matches away from home. The Lady Toppers will take on Vanderbilt in their next time out on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m. before beginning C-USA play at Southern Miss at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 16. WKU will be back at the Soccer Complex on Friday, Oct. 5, at 6 p.m. as the Lady Toppers square off against FIU.