Lady Toppers Topple Austin Peay 3-0 to End Exhibition Slate

Sunday, August 18

Bowling Green, Ky.

6 P.M. CT

Western Kentucky University

1-0

Austin Peay (EXH)

0-1

Austin Peay

WKU

8/18/2019 9:17:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – A brace from Chandler Backes and Ansley Cate's first goal on The Hill were the difference in a shortened 80-minute exhibition match as WKU defeated Austin Peay, 3-0, in its exhibition finale on Sunday evening at the WKU Soccer Complex.

Sunday evening's match was played in a special format of two 30-minute halves, after which the score was considered finalized. The teams then practiced a 20-minute (two 10-minute periods) golden-goal scenario for 80 minutes of live action in total.

The offense ran efficiently for the Lady Toppers on Sunday, scoring three goals on just 10 shots as WKU made the most of its opportunities. Backes led all players with three shots on the night, while Cate and Lyric Schmidt also each put a shot on frame.

In goal, Anne-Marie Ulliac played the full 80 minutes, maintaining a clean sheet while making two saves. In the preseason, Ulliac played 125 total minutes without allowing a goal in a strong return from injury after missing much of last season.

"We're really excited about where we are finishing up preseason," Head Coach Jason Neidell said. "We had a lot of new faces with 11 freshmen and four players returning from injuries a year ago. We put this exhibition schedule in place to try to figure things out, and we understand a lot more about our team now than we did five days ago."

For Austin Peay, three different goalkeepers split time between the posts, with Mary Parker Powell playing 40 minutes and allowing two goals while taking the loss. Chloe Dion made the lone save of the night for the Govs but also allowed Cate's goal in her 15 minutes of action.

WKU came out of the gates firing to start the match, collecting three corners that turned into two shots by Barnett, but the preseason All-C-USA pick was unable to put either of the chances on goal. The first breakthrough came at the 15:07 mark, when Barnett's shot inside the box struck an Austin Peay defender and pinballed to Backes at the far post for an easy chip in, with the senior giving the Lady Toppers an early 1-0 edge.

Just over four minutes later, Backes struck again to double the WKU lead. Set up by a buildup from Victoria Mayo and Barnett, Backes was able to pull the Govs' keeper out of position and dribble past her before shooting back across her body for her second goal of the night.

Lucy Lyon nearly notched her first goal on The Hill in the closing seconds of the first half, just narrowly pulling a shot a bit too far left in a one-on-one opportunity against the goalkeeper as WKU carried a 2-0 lead into the locker room.

WKU almost immediately added to its lead coming out of the break, with Backes coming just inches away from a hat trick. WKU's active leading career goalscorer struck the crossbar, but Cate was there on the left side to collect the rebound before Austin Peay's back line could get set, firing into the top corner to extend the lead to 3-0 in the 32nd minute.

Austin Peay nearly pulled a goal back at the death as Claire Larose broke through the defense, but her chance was corralled by Ulliac to complete the clean sheet in the shortened 60-minute section of the match.

In the golden-goal practice scenario, neither side was able to put a shot on goal, with both the Lady Toppers and Govs sending chances well over the bar and settling for a scoreless draw over the extra 20 minutes.

With its preseason exhibitions in the rearview window, WKU will put the finishing touches on its preparations for the 2019 season before kicking off the regular season this Thursday evening at 7 p.m. as Belmont makes the short trip to the WKU Soccer Complex. WKU has never dropped a match against the Bruins in a series that dates back to 2008, holding a 4-0-1 record that includes a 3-0 shutout win in the last regular season meeting on Sept. 17, 2016.