PORTSMOUTH – Women's soccer stretched winning streak to a program-best six straight victories Saturday afternoon with a 4-0 win to open up Mid-South Conference play against the University of the Cumberlands. The Bears got three goals in the opening half to pace the victory in front of the Alumni Weekend crowd as it was also the team's annual Kick for Crohn's game.
Jessica Fair got the scoring started with a goal in 14th minute and capped the offense with her second goal of the game in the second half. Allison Nagle and Schuyler Jones each scored in the opening half as well while assisting on Fair's game-winning goal to start the game. Emily Kuehn ended up stopping a total of 11 shots in goal to pick up her fourth shutout of the season.
SSU got the scoring started in the transition game as Hannah Figlestahler brought the ball from the midfield just outside of the 18. She would cross it in to Nagle who tapped to Jones before it ended up on the foot of Fair for the 1-0 lead. Fair would have her next good opportunity to score in the 26th minute but sent the ball just over the cross bar.
However, it would not be long until the Bears found their second goal of the game. In the 31st minute of play, Nagle would take advantage of some sloppy defensive passes as a fullback tried to play a pass back to the goalie. Nagle would intercept that pass before it ever got to the goalie and finish the unassisted goal to make it 2-0.
Jones would add the third and final tally of the opening half as Leslie Marsh played a cross from the left side of the box to Jones who would finish with the header in the 37th minute. After the opening half, the Bears had just a 9-7 advantage in shots but put eight of those nine attempts on goal while Kuehn was only called on to make three saves in the opening half.
Early in the second half, Kuehn would be called upon to make five saves in the opening 12-plus minutes but never let the Patriots come close to scoring. After that final save to start the second half, SSU would transition out of its defensive zone with a nice pass through the heart of the Patriots' defense by Erin Phillips as she would find Fair for the breakaway goal to put her team up 4-0.
The University of the Cumberlands would end up holding a 10-6 advantage in shots during the second half as it looked to play balls over the top in hopes of finding some offensive but Emily Kuehn was there to deter any chances. The Patriots would also hold a 6-1 edge in corner kicks but could do nothing offensively with the chances.
After a win to open up MSC play, the Bears will head back on the road for another non-conference affair as they take on Penn State-Beaver next Wednesday, September 18 at 4 p.m. The Bears will have their next conference game on September 24 when Cumberland University comes to Portsmouth.
Notes: The Bears' six-game winning streak is the longest in program history … SSU has also won six straight games at home which is also a program record (they have also won four straight on the road to start the season which is tied for the most consecutive wins in program history) … Today's win marked the first time in program history that SSU has won its MSC opener … It is the first time since 2006 that they have opened the conference schedule with a win (1-0 win vs. Walsh that year) … SSU is now 3-3 against the University of the Cumberlands with todays' game being the largest margin of victory for either side in the series … Jessica Fair now has four game-winning goals this season which ties her for the most in a single-season with three other people on five other occasions … Fair now has 16 career goals, including seven this season which is tied for the team high … Allison Nagle moved into sole possession of sixth place with 19 career goals after today, including six goals this season … Nagle's 56 career points move her into fifth all-time (she ranks fourth all-time with 18 career assists) … Schuyler Jones is also tied for the team lead with seven goals this season … She has now scored in five straight games … Leslie Marsh's assist was the first point of her Shawnee State career … Erin Phillips now has two career assists which have happened in back-to-back games … Emily Kuehn now has 19 career victories and needs one more to tie Jessica Votow (2001-04) for second-most all-time … Kuehn now has four shutouts on the season (the SSU single-season record for shutouts in six).
