FORT WORTH, TX: The Texas Wesleyan University women's soccer team (11-5-1) demolished Southwestern Christian University (5-13) by a final score of 9-0 in a Sooner Athletic Conference Quarterfinal contest at Martin Field on Friday.
With the win, the Rams advance to the semifinal round of the SAC Tournament. Texas Wesleyan will host the University of Science & Art (OK) at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.
"This was a great team win," commented head coach
Josh Gibbs. "We get to enjoy this one for a night, and then get prepared for an extremely tough USAO team."
The Lady Rams dominated Friday's contest from the start. Just 5:30 into the game,
Samantha Moore played a ball from center to the right wing that hit
Taylor Ross in stride, and the freshman forward finished the first of her three goals on the night.
In the 15th minute, Ross and Moore flipped the script with Moore netting her 8th goal of the season. Just 1:34 later,
Drea Molina's corner kick connected with Ross who delivered the ball inside the back post.
In the 30th minute,
Taylor Bush collected a rebounded save and made it 4-0. Ten minutes later another Molina corner kick found its way to the top of the box where
Kaylie Hart struck a ball that the SCU keeper got a hand on after the ball had crossed the goal line.
Katie Baugh scored an unassisted goal nine seconds before the intermission, and when the smoke cleared, the Rams held a 6-0 advantage.
In the second half,
Samantha Moore converted a penalty kick in the 74th minute.
Cat Smith hit
Amber Leachman for a goal in the 77th minute, and
Taylor Ross completed her hat trick in the 86th minute with an assist from Leachman.
For the game, the Rams outshot the Eagles 29-6. Included in Texas Wesleyan's 29 shots were 17 shots on goal while five more were on target, but blocked by the defense.
Nikki Lockwood (9-4),
Lauren Bond, and
Christy Zwart combined to make two saves in the shutout. SCU's Kaylie Naumann made three saves while Ashlynn Haylett made five stops.
In other tournament action, 3rd seeded USAO defeated 6th seeded Mid-America Christian 4-1. Top seeded John Brown topped 8th seeded Wayland Baptist 7-0, and 4
4th seeded St. Gregory's edged 5th seeded Oklahoma City 2-1.
Ramblings
- With her 7-point performance,
Taylor Ross overtook
Drea Molina for the team lead in that category with 32 points (11goals, 10 assists) on the season. She trails Molina's 12 goals by one.
- Ross' 32 points rank 5th in the SAC, while her 10 assists are currently tied for the conference lead.
- Senior defender
Kaylie Hart scored for the second consecutive game. Hart, who has played in all 70 games in the last four years, had not scored a goal in her first 68 collegiate games.
- Ross and Moore were each involved in four of the nine goals, Ross with three goals and an assist and Moore with two goals and two assists.
- The Rams are now 5-0 all-time against Southwestern Christian and 3-3 all-time in SAC Tournament play. USAO leads the all-time series 7-3-2 with Texas Wesleyan.
- Texas Wesleyan has now reached the semifinal round of the SAC Tournament in three of four years of membership.
