FULTON, Mo. - In another dominating performance Tuesday night, the William Woods University women's soccer team, extended its win streak to a season-high four games, as the team defeated Harris-Stowe State University 4-0.
The William Woods University women's soccer team kicked-off its  Child Cancer Awareness  game for Faith Grier and her family Tuesday night. Faith was diagnosed with Wilm's Tumor in November of 2013, Wilm's tumor is a rare childhood cancer of the kidney. After the removal of her right kidney and the end of her chemotherapy in May 2014, a CT scan revealed her cancer had spread to her lungs. She is currently on her 12th week of intense chemotherapy treatment plan.
Faith's family hopes that through witnessing Faith's journey, that people will understand how childhood cancer affects children and their families. Through this understanding, people will be more aware of helping support childhood cancer families and also research. Pediatric cancer needs funding greatly.
WWU women's soccer team wore shirts with Faith's name in honor of her during the game and collected donations for childhood cancer awareness throughout the game. The Owls (7-5-2; 6-1-2 AMC) came right out of the gate on a mission, as the team scored two goals within the first two minutes of the game, which set the tone for the rest of the match-up, as the teams' aggressive offense outshot the Hornets 23-3.
Only .70 seconds after the starting whistle, Briitainy German placed a textbook pass into the box, finding the foot of teammate
Rachel Meyer, as she kicked in her fifth goal of the season, giving the Owls an early 1-0 lead.
Then, at the 2:12 mark, a short .62 seconds after the Owls first goal,
Ashley Deckard's corner kick found senior
Amy Faus, who scored her first goal of the season and extended William Woods lead to 2-0.
The scoring didn't stop there, as the Owls leading scorer,
Jordan McNamara would get into the action at the 20
th minute, as Deckard, connected with
Jamie Palermo, who then found McNamara in the box, where she laced a ball in the top right corner of the net, giving the Owls a 3-0 advantage.
The Hornets didn't have an answer against the stellar offensive play by the Owls in the first half, as WWU would score its fourth goal of the night at the 27:56 mark. Junior,
Haley Pipes recorded her first career goal as an Owl, as she laced a ball past a diving Hornets goalkeeper, extending the lead 4-0 for WWU.
The Hornets would keep the Owls off the board for the rest of the first half but could not find any momentum offensively, as William Woods defense stayed strong and didn't let HSSU get a shot off all 45:00 minutes.
In the final frame, the Hornets held WWU scoreless, as the score remained the same, giving the Owls its fifth shutout of the season and securing the team a 4-0 victory. Â
Offensively, the Owls were led by American Midwest Conference (AMC) Offensive Player of the Week, McNamara, as she recorded four shots and a goal, while Pipes added three shots and a goal and Deckard would also hand out two assists on the night, pushing her total to six, which leads the team. Â
The Owls defense was just as impressive as the offensive play, while the team has recorded a shutout in three of its last four wins. Goalkeeper,
Brittany Griffin, collected one save on the night and recorded her first career back-to-back shutouts.
"It was fun seeing how our girls can come out from the start and play some brilliant soccer," expressed head coach
Randy Hall. "Scoring two goals in the first two minutes and four in the first 30 minutes was a fair result for the quality display by our Owls tonight."
Hall added, "We were dynamic in our movement and sharp in the technique of our passing and receiving. I am really hoping we can put 90:00 minutes like this together on Thursday and the rest of the games this season."
The Owls return to action in a non-conference match-up on the road against Central Methodist University, Thursday night. Kick-off is set for 7:00 p.m.
Here are links to read more about Faith's journey, her road to recovery and a website to support Children's Cancer Awareness.
https://www.facebook.com/journeyoffaithgrierwww.hopeforautumnfoundation.orgFans check back on wwuowls.com for a full recap of this match-up.Â
