EVANSTON,
Ill. -- Senior Kristin Wirtz tallied her first collegiate goal in the
first half and No. 11 Northwestern added two more scores after the
break in taking down Miami (Ohio) 3-0 in a Monday matinee at Lakeside
Field.
Isabel Flens and Nikki Parsley also notched scores for the Wildcats as they won their fourth straight game.
"I
was really pleased with our effort today," Northwestern head coach
Tracey Fuchs said. "Our defense has been solid and our corner execution
is getting better and better. Miami is a very good team. We have a lot
that we can continue to improve upon, but I like the direction that
we're headed."
Behind goalkeeper Maddy Carpenter and Lisa
McCarthy, Charlotte Martin and Julia Retzky on the back line of
defense, NU has allowed just one goal in its last three contests
combined. The Wildcats made life difficult for the RedHawks' attack on
Monday, as they didn't allow a shot in the opening half.
Northwestern
dominated possession throughout the first stanza and cashed in at 12:19
as Flens fed a pass through to Wirtz who found herself alone with
goalkeeper Sarah Mueller and beat her to put the hosts in front.
Despite
the Wildcats' 8-0 shot advantage over the opening 35 minutes of play,
they were unable to get another score before the break as Miami was
able to hang close.
However, NU got an important insurance goal
five and a half minutes into the second period as it earned a penalty
corner. Lisa McCarthy inserted to Julia Retzky who stopped and fed the
ball to Dominique Masters who then fired a pass to fellow freshman
Flens whoo deflected it into the cage, making it 2-0.
The 'Cats
would put the game out of reach at 47:19 as Parsley tallied her third
of the season off a rebound following another corner to make it a
three-goal margin.
The RedHawks did manage to earn eight
second-half penalty corners, but the Northwestern defense stood tall to
earn its second shutout of the season.
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