Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Belmont women's soccer team (2-2) won its home opener on Sunday in convincing fashion against visiting Alabama State (3-3). The Bruins recorded a 3-0 victory behind several stellar offensive plays.
BU dominated the Lady Hornets for nearly the entire 90 minutes at Rose Park, forcing action to remain deep on the Alabama State side of the field. Of the game's first nine shots, Belmont recorded eight of them, handily controlling the tempo and flow of the match. BU's first goal of the afternoon came 30 minutes into the match when sophomore Sydney Omweg (Yorktown, Va.) launched a slow moving ball fed from junior Elise DeTrude (Carmel, Ind.) just over the head of ASU goalkeeper Kylee Hathaway and into the left corner.
The Lady Hornets swapped netminders to open the second stanza but the Bruin offense still proved to be too much. Just eight minutes into the half, sophomore Emily Epley (Goshen, Ky.) found the back of the net with help from junior Kim Elmore (Salem, Va.) after rebounding the ball off a block by ASU netminder Courtney Ledonne.
Fifteen minutes later, Belmont collected its third goal of the day when senior Emily Jones (Cleveland, Tenn.) took on Ledonne one-on-one, sliding it past her into the right corner. Even with a commanding 3-0 advantage, the Bruins did not let up offensively. In the final 15 minutes of regulation, BU tallied nine shots, some of which barely sailed wide or over the crossbar. Alabama State's frustration grew as they were barely allowed to cross the midfield line and were halted from all scoring attempts by a stingy Bruin defense.
In all, the Bruins outshot ASU, 35-3, and notched six corner kicks.
Sophomore Cassie Blase (Waukesha, Wisc.) led the Bruins in shots with a total of eight, followed by Epley with five and junior Allie Hicks (Carmel, Ind.) and senior Katie Proud (Knoxville, Tenn.) with four.
Time in goal was split by senior Nicole Berner (Randolph, N.J.) and sophomore Lindsey Epse (LaCanada, Calif.). Thanks to stringent defense by her teammates, Berner only had to make three stops during the first half. Espe played clean up in the final 15 minutes of regulation.
Belmont returns to action on Friday, September 13 for a contest on the road at Evansville.
