Women's Soccer notches 10th straight victory, blanks Wilmington 5-0 on the road

By Blake Moore

WILMINGTON - The Ohio Northern women's soccer program received goals from five different players to claim a 5-0 victory over Ohio Athletic Conference foe Wilmington on the road at Williams Stadium Wednesday night, extending the team's current win streak to 10 matches.

The Polar Bears, who moved to 10-2-0 on the season with an undefeated 4-0-0 mark in OAC action, secured their ninth shutout of 2018 in the win. The Quakers would drop to 8-4-0 overall and move to 2-2-0 in conference play.

ONU would command the match early, taking an early 1-0 lead just 13 minutes into the first frame. Junior midfielder Haley Moses (Mason) recorded her second goal on the year to open the Polar Bear scoring, which would also serve as the eventual game-winning tally.

The Wilmington defense would quiet the visiting side's offense following the initial score to keep the Quakers within one heading into the halftime break. However, Northern would find an offensive groove in the second half, netting three goals in a 10-minute span beginning in the 51st minute of play.

Senior forward McKenna Welsh (Westerville/Bishop Hartley) opened the second-half stretch, tallying her fourth goal in Ohio Northern's last three matches. Junior Rose Nienaber (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) and sophomore Megan Breier (Plainfield, Ill./North) would also beat the home netminder with each recording their second respective goals this year.

Freshman defender Mikhayla Carter (Clarksville/Clinton-Massie) capped the night's scoring in the 85th minute, securing the Northern victory.

Offensively, Jenna Fuller (Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township) paced the ONU side with five total shot attempts in the midweek contest. The sophomore recorded her ninth straight match with a point Wednesday evening after tallying an assist on Welsh's brace and culminated a previous eight-match scoring streak.

In net, junior netminder Meagan Grierson (Miamisburg) posted two saves in the shutout victory, giving her 10 wins on the season. The clean sheet marks the 28th shutout of her career and her eighth of the 2018 season.

As a team, Ohio Northern outshot their hosts 20-9, including a 10-2 shots on goal margin. The Polar Bears would additionally take four corner kick opportunities in the match while blanking Wilmington in the same category.

The women's soccer team will return to Kerscher Stadium this Saturday, October 13 as they are set to host the John Carroll Blue Streaks in conference action. Match time is set for 1 p.m. in Ada.