Five different Case Western Reserve University players scored a goal, and the Spartans played stingy defense on Saturday afternoon, yielding just one shot to Muskingum University in a 7-1 win for the women's soccer team at DiSanto Field in Cleveland, Ohio.
With the win, the Spartans will now head into University Athletic Association play next weekend with a perfect 8-0-0 record. Muskingum fell to 1-8-0 with the loss.
A defensive miscue on a ball played back to the keeper and some aggressive play by Muskingum forward Morgan Meisel resulted in the Muskies jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute of the game. The goal was just the third scored this season against the Spartans and ended a stretch of 480 minutes and 10 seconds without a score allowed by the CWRU defense.
However, the Spartans were able to mount a quick response with two goals in quick succession to take the lead. In the 13th minute, a shot by senior midfielder Anika Washburn was deflected by the Muskingum keeper directly to the feet of first-year midfielder Sophia Stellabotte, who was able to punch it in for her second goal of the season. Washburn earned her fourth assist of the year on the goal.
Just over 90 seconds later, senior midfielder Molly Whelan gave the Spartans the lead, scoring on a shot from the middle of the field and 25 yards out on junior forward Helina VanBibber's second assist of the year. It was the first goal of Whelan's career.
CWRU extended its lead in the 52nd minute on a goal by Washburn off a cross from senior forward Ella Copich from the far side of the field to the edge of the six-yard box. Washburn was able to take one step toward the middle of the field before launching a shot past the keeper to give CWRU a 3-1 advantage.
In the 67th minute, sophomore forward Kati Davis scored the first goal of her collegiate career off an assist from junior midfielder Aniya Hartzler's third assist of the campaign to put the Spartans ahead by three goals. Senior forward Christina Hickson added to the Spartans' lead with her seventh goal of the season in the 79th minute off VanBibber's second assist of the game and third of the year. Less than three minutes later, Hickson earned her second assist of the season on Stellabotte's second goal of the game and third of the year, giving CWRU a 6-1 advantage with under 10 minutes to play in the game. Washburn capped off the scoring for CWRU in the 88th minute, heading in a corner kick from Whelan for her second goal of the contest. It was Washburn's fifth goal in the last two games and her team-leading ninth of the season.
Washburn, who leads all Spartans this season with 22 points (nine goals and four assists) moved into a tie with former Spartan Sarah Rogers (1999-02) for the second-most goals in program history. In addition, the five points in Saturday's match give her 59 for her career, matching Michelle Sabick (1988-91) for the second-most ever by a CWRU player.
The seven goals match a season high for CWRU, previously set on Thursday against John Carroll. The Spartans finished the game with 43 shots, marking the third-straight game that CWRU has gotten off at least 40 shots in a contest. Prior to the stretch, CWRU had registered 40 or more shots in a game just three times in program history.
Sophomore goalkeeper Maggie Storti played all 90 minutes in goal, improving to 8-0-0 on the year with a 0.42 goals against average.
CWRU has now won 22-straight non-conference regular season matches and has gone undefeated in its last 23 non-conference matches including NCAA tournament play.
Case Western Reserve originally was scheduled to face Denison University on the road on Tuesday, but that game has been cancelled. The Spartans will now turn their attention to conference play, as the team is slated to host New York University in its University Athletic Association opener next Saturday, October 2 at DiSanto Field. The game is scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. start.
