COLUMBIA, Mo. - William Woods University's (7-5-3, 3-1 American Midwest Conference) two goals in the first 35:27 were enough to spoil Stephens College's (2-9-2, 1-4) Senior Night, as the Owls beat the Stars 2-1 Friday at Battle High School.
Until the final 10 minutes, William Woods was the team active in the attack, while Stephens' defense was called to action numerous times.
Proving that point, the Owls outshot the Stars 19 (14 on goal) to four (three on goal). WWU goalkeeper
Belle Boschert (5-4-3) played all 90 minutes and made two saves in three attempts, while Stephens senior shot-stopper Grace Houchin (0-2) stopped four of six shots in the first 45 minutes.
A blunder by Houchin gifted the Owls their first goal 19:26 into the contest, as
Zoe Lockhert played a cross from the right side of the field that ended up going into the gloves of Houchin, who mishandled the ball before it went behind her for an own goal to put Woods up 1-0.
Just over 16 minutes later, the Owls doubled their lead when
Megan Hughes took a pass from
Tess Roberts and scored a cutter from right outside the box that went to the netminder's right and gave WWU a 2-0 advantage at halftime.
Through the first 45 minutes, the Owls outshot the Stars nine (six on goal) to two (one on goal). Following halftime, Stephens changed goalkeepers, with honorable mention All-AMC Sofia Ramos coming in for Houchins. With that change, Ramos denied all eight of WWU's shots on goal in the second half, as the Stars scored on one of their two shots on goal.
One of Stephens' seniors found the back of the net in the 85th minute, with two-time honorable mention All-AMC honoree Sydney Castelli getting on the scoresheet for the first time this season. Castelli's goal cut the Stars' deficit in half (2-1), but Boschert denied their last chance on goal with 18 seconds left to secure an Owls victory.
Stephens committed nine fouls, with Wynne Martins issued a yellow card in the 43rd minute, while Wiliam Woods had eight fouls and no cards.
The Owls are currently the No. 2 seed in the AMC Tournament. Their next two matches are at home, and they have three games of AMC regular season play left.
William Woods' next match is the second game of a tripleheader of Owls athletics sports events for their first-ever Homecoming weekend in school history, as they host University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis (5-5, 2-1 AMC) at 6 p.m. next Saturday at North Campus Athletic Complex in Fulton.
