NORTH NEWTON, Kan. - After back-to-back home losses, the William Woods University women's soccer team was in search of a solid start to its three-game road swing, and early goals by
Megan Hughes and
Lydia Sims delivered in the Owls' 4-1 win at Bethel College. Hughes opened and closed the scoring for WWU in the contest, with
Sydney Balducci adding a goal and an assist.
"We came out with a clear goal in mind," said Head Coach
Lauren Robb. "I think we executed our main tactics that we talked about in pregame, and I'm proud of the work we did to create each goal and the chances we had in the final third."
Hard work was exactly what led to the first goal for the Owls, as
Aubrie Golus intercepted a searching through ball in the middle third of the field and dribbled across midfield. She slotted a pass to Hughes on the inside of her defender, and after a quick first touch Hughes loosed a bomb from 40 yards out into the upper corner of the net.
William Woods doubled the lead in the 14th minute, earning a quick corner.
Hannah Loethen's inswinger found Balducci on the back post, and Balducci headed the ball back into the mix. Sims outjumped her marker and nodded the ball past Bethel's Mariah Vallejo.
The Owls kept up the possession and pressure, but weren't able to extend the margin before halftime.
Balducci struck for WWU in the 57th minute, outpacing her defender to collect a through ball from
Zoe Hargis and knock it past the Thresher goalkeeper into the right side of the net.
Maintaining a high line of defensive pressure, William Woods added a fourth goal in the 62nd minute, winning the initial ball on a Thresher free kick and then keeping pressure on the hosts.
Sam Poehlmann was able to win the ball from a pair of Bethel defenders and find Hughes, with her low, driven shot sneaking between the keeper and the near post.
The Threshers managed to pull one back just over a minute later, converting on a free kick 25 yards from the endline, but WWU closed out the match easily.
William Woods continues the road swing with another morning kickoff at Southwestern Christian University. Action gets underway at 10 a.m. in Bethany, Okla.
