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BILLINGS, Mont. -- In the cold and blustery weather at Yellowjacket Field, the Montana State Billings women's soccer team's offense was red hot as the Jackets handled Central Washington easily with a 3-0 victory in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday afternoon.
 
“Today was a great result for us,” said interim head coach Wojtek Krakowiak. “The girls came out to play the whole 90 minutes today and played really well. Our defense played great and Danielle made some key saves. Our forwards did a great job of creating and finishing their chances. It was a very good performance today as a whole, but now we have to focus on our match Saturday.”
 
The Yellowjackets moved back into second place in the GNAC standings with the win, moving their season record to 10-2-4 and 7-1-4 in the conference. The win also kept the Yellowjackets hopes of a postseason berth alive after being ranked 10^th in this week's NCAA west region poll.
 
MSUB controlled much of the match, battling swirling winds throughout the day, and struck first in the 29^th minute. Junior Jaucelyn Richter streaked down the middle of the pitch with ball and lifted a shot from 25 yards out, fortunately the ball deflected off a Wildcat defender and slipped past Kayla Lipston into the upper right corner at 28:46 to give the Jackets the 1-0 lead on the own goal.
 
The Jackets didn't take long to stop the clock again as they mounted another offensive attack in the 34^th minute. Sophomore Heidi Greenback pushed the ball down the right side and fired a shot that went through the hands of a sliding Lipston and right to the right boot of Richter who cashed in with an easy goal, her team-leading ninth of the season.
 
MSUB scored an insurance goal in the 49^th minute as Adrienne Biglow lined up a corner kick on the far side. Her kick glided into the six yard box and found a wide open Kristen Kastelic by the near post where she flicked the ball past a diving Lipston for her third goal of the season.
 
The Yellowjackets outshot the Wildcats 12-7 in the match and held a 4-2 edge in corner kicks. MSUB also held a 7-3 edge in shots on goal, taking six of those shots in the first half.
 
The Yellowjacket defense helped senior keeper Danielle Gordon earn her seventh shutout of the season, as she made three saves in the match. The defense stood tall as the combination of Jennifer Larsen, Whitney Siler, Jessie Mancilla and Kastelic all gave the Wildcats limited chances.
 
MSUB now has a crucial home tilt against No.13 Seattle Pacific University at 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon at Yellowjacket Field. The Falcons won another GNAC title with their 2-1 victory over Northwest Nazarene this afternoon.
 
Saturday's match is also the Make-A-Wish match for the Yellowjackets, MAW stars can be purchased for $1 each at the match and will enter fans into a raffle for a Yellowjacket prize pack and two lift tickets to Bridger Bowl ski resort.