Box Score
MOREHEAD, Ky. – A pair of goals 78 minutes apart from each other gave Belmont women's soccer a 2-0 victory over Morehead State Friday night at Jayne Stadium. Junior Emily Whitcomb (Elmhurst, Ill.) and freshman Julie Garst (Franklin, Tenn.) each found the back of the net while the Bruins tallied their fourth shutout of the season.
Belmont hit the 10-win plateau for the first time since 2009 after tonight's victory, moving to 10-5-1 overall and boasting a 6-3-0 mark in conference play. The squad's six conference wins is the most they've tallied since joining the Ohio Valley Conference.
It took little time for the Bruins to take the advantage as Whitcomb netted her fourth goal of the season in the squads first trip down the field. With just five minutes expired on the clock senior midfielder Tara Austin (Beaumont, Texas) served a perfect ball from the sideline roughly 20 yards out. The cross landed inside the goalie box and right at the feet for Whitcomb who sent in her fourth goal of the year and put BU up, 1-0, right out of the gates. The goal was Belmont's quickest of the season.
Whitcomb continued to work the Eagles' defense in the ensuing plays as the Bruins earned back-to-back corners. The Elmhurst, Ill. product nearly duplicated her scoring play on the first corner as senior forward Belicia Mendiola (McKinney, Texas) delivered a beautiful ball into the box, but Whitcomb's shot was intercepted by a defender to keep Belmont from doubling its lead. The junior midfielder also got a foot on the second corner, unable to convert on it either.
The Bruins offense quieted down for the remainder of the half as they'd only get three shots off in the final 30 minutes of the stanza. Sophomore Anna Brock Hawkins (Murfreesboro, Tenn.) got another good look on a cross from Niki Clements (Perkasie, Pa.), but the ball soared over the frame to limit the Bruins damage.
Clements then gave Belmont its best look in the early goings of the second stanza after Mendiola worked her way through traffic and found the forward. The sophomore created an opening and sent a laser at the Morehead State keeper who had to make a diving save to deny the Bruins of another goal.
After disrupting Morehead State's offense for much of the first half, the Eagles found a way to threaten a few times in the latter half of the match. While they only recorded three shots in the second frame, much of the credit goes to sophomore keeper Lily Herman (Springboro, Ohio) and the Bruins backline who made various stops that kept the Eagles from getting any opportunities to score.
As the clock reached the 80-minute mark Garst fired a shot from 12-yards out that forced MSU keeper Michelle Washburn to make another diving save and once again rob Belmont of finding the back of the net. Three minutes later Garst got another chance and lobbed a ball over the reach of Washburn to give Belmont some insurance and the 2-0 lead.
UP NEXT
Belmont will close out its 2017 regular season campaign at Eastern Kentucky on Sunday, Oct. 22. The match is slated to start at 1 p.m. ET.
