Women's Soccer Extends Unbeaten Streak to Five With Victory at Defiance

(Defiance, OH)-- The Cleary Cougar women's soccer team returned to action Wednesday afternoon, with a road game against the Defiance College Yellow Jackets.

It wouldn't take long for the Cougars to strike, as they scored the game's first goal in the 5th minute.  After Morgan Vanos sent in a corner kick towards the back post, the ball was recycled back to the top of the box for Natalia Mele.  Mele would send in a pass back to the left for Vanos, who fired a shot from the left side of the penalty area, beating the keeper on the near post, and giving the Cougars a 1-0 lead.  Though the Cougars controlled the possession and the action, no more goals would be scored in the half, and the two teams went to the break with the same 1-0 score.

In the second half, Cleary would double their lead in the 52nd minute on a beautiful team goal.  After forcing a turnover, Natalie Steele made the pass to Jessica Neal, who passed up the middle to a wide open Ashley Stover.  Stover found teammate Evalyn Cole, who flicked it forward to get the ball behind the defense, where Chelsea Waller was there to score, making it 2-0 in favor of Cleary.  Cleary added a third goal less than twenty minutes later to triple their lead.  Morgan Vanos sent in a dangerous ball off a free kick, where Evalyn Cole was the first to the ball.  Her shot attempt was saved, but Ashley Stover was the first to the rebound, and she slammed the ball home.  Four minutes late, Morgan Vanos scored her second goal off an "olimpico" goal directly from a corner kick to make it 4-0 with just over fifteen minutes of game remaining.  Defiance would get one goal back in the 88th minute after the Cougars committed a foul in the penalty area and the Yellow Jackets converted the resulting penalty kick, making the score 4-1 late in the game.

Sara Mecomber earned the victory in goal, making 2 saves on 2 shots faced in just over 77 minutes of action.  Kaylee Backers played 13 minutes of relief.  Cleary outshot Defiance 28-3 in the game, with a 16-3 advantage on shots on goal.  The Cougars committed 7 fouls to Defiance's 3, and also held a 7-1 advantage on corner kicks in the game.

The win extends the current unbeaten streak to five games, and now gives Cleary a record of 6-7-4 overall, 2-4-4 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will play their regular season finale on Saturday at Lake Trust Stadium when they host the Aquinas College Saints in a must-win to have a chance at a WHAC tournament berth.  The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM.