FULTON, Mo. - Coming into Saturday's regular season finale, the playoff scenarios for the Owls ranged from hosting as the no. 2 seed to traveling as the no. 5 seed, with Woods facing the team that had eliminated them from the 2022 AMC tournament. Seven goals later, William Woods (7-7-3, 4-1-2 AMC) confidently claimed the no. 2 seed with a Senior Day shutout win over Stephens College (3-10-1, 1-5-1 AMC).
Cindy Gonzalez recorded a pair of goals within the first 10 minutes of the match and the Owls defense allowed just four shots on goal.
WWU pressed the attack from the opening whistle, with
Megan Hughes nearly scoring inside of the first 30 seconds of the match for the Owls. Although her effort from distance was saved by Kayla Mislark, the Stephens keeper was unable to stop Gonzalez in the fourth minute.
Lauren Helmert played a long ball through the midfield to put Gonzalez 1-on-1 with Mislark, with the Owls senior picking out the left post for her sixth goal of the season.
Gonzalez doubled the lead for the Woods in the eighth minute, although
Paige Hicks may have felt slightly robbed on the chance as her cross from the right wing looked as if it might sneak inside the back post before Gonzalez tapped it across the line.
Just six minutes later, Hicks emphatically opened her scoring account from nearly the same spot as her earlier assist. After collecting a pass from
Sydney Balducci out of the midfield, Hicks sent in another searching ball from the wing, this one going top shelf out of reach of the Stephens keeper.
Megan Hughes put the Owls up 4-0 in the 18th minute with a rocket from 25 yards out off the assist by
Hannah Loethen. Loethen dribbled past a trio of Stephens defenders down the left wing, then cut back toward the top of the 18-yard box. Her pass found Hughes in stride, and the freshman uncorked a blast to the right post.
Hughes played helper to open the Owls' scoring in the second half, finding
Zoe Hargis through a pair of Stephens defenders in the midfield. Hargis battled into space and sent a curling effort into the right side upper 90 from 30 yards out to push WWU's lead fo 5-0.
Loethen found Hughes again in the 67th minute, courtesy of a deft intervening touch by Balducci. After collecting a loose ball at midfield, Loethen raced to the endline on the left wing, and sent a low cross through traffic into the six-yard box. With her back to goal, Balducci spotted Hughes charging through the penalty area unmarked, and laid the cross back to Hughes in stride, with the freshman blasting it home.
Leah Hays added the final blow for WWU in the 87th minute, stuffing a misplayed goal kick back into the top corner of the goal.
With the win, William Woods earned the no. 2 seed in the AMC Women's Soccer Championship, and will host University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy on Friday, Nov. 3. Kickoff for the match is set for 5 p.m.
