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Box Score
BILLINGS, Mont. – The 23rd ranked Montana State University Billings women's soccer team won its fourth consecutive match with a 2-0 victory over Western Oregon University Thursday afternoon at Yellowjacket Field.
The Yellowjackets improved to 7-1-1 on the season and 4-1-0 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with the win. With the loss, Western Oregon falls to 1-8-0 overall and 0-5-0 in the GNAC.
“We made the most of our opportunities today,” said ninth year head coach Don Trentham. “We did a good job in getting the two goals in the first half, both off of corner kicks. The goals put us in position where we were able to dictate the play in the second half.”
Controlling the games tempo throughout the match, the Yellowjackets jumped on the board first in the 27th minute when Lauren Anderson (Ridgefield, WA, Ridgefield HS) floated a corner kick from the right side into a mob in the box where the ball was misplayed by a Wolves player and found the back of the net for an own goal.
Leading 1-0, the Yellowjackets again struck in the 40th minute off another corner kick. This time Adrienne Biglow (Yakima, WA, West Valley HS) drove the ball in from the left corner and past a group of players huddled by the near post, finding a wide open Jackie Hill (Boise, ID, Borah HS). The MSUB freshman managed to get her head on the ball and made a beautiful flick into the wide open net. The goal was Hill's first collegiate career goal and Biglow's first assist of the year.
“I was very happy to see Jackie (Hill) score her first career goal,” said Trentham. “She, like all of our players, has been working very hard lately and it's nice to see that hard-work rewarded.”
The Jackets managed to control the ball throughout most of the second half to earn the victory as the defense again clamped down to earn its third consecutive shutout. Keeper Sabrina Grandke-Bawab (Kirkland, WA, Juanita HS) made five saves in collecting her third shutout of the season and improving to 5-0-1.
“Our defense continues to make things difficult for our opponents,” continued Trentham. “We've made it hard for teams to score on us and at the end of the day they helped get the victory and another important GNAC win.”
The Yellowjackets were outshot by the Wolves 11-9 but held a 7-5 advantage in shots-on-goal. The Wolves also edged MSUB in corner kicks 6-5, while both teams had five saves.
The Yellowjackets return to the pitch this Saturday for a GNAC match against Saint Martin's at 3:30 p.m. Saturday's match is part of Futbol Frenzy and is a doubleheader with the men's team. The women's team will also be honoring its 15th Anniversary Team at halftime.
