Women's Soccer shuts out John Carroll 3-0, extends win streak to 11 matches
By Blake Moore
ADA - The Ohio Northern women's soccer program ran its current win streak to 11 matches and captured its 10th shutout of the 2018 season Saturday afternoon, blanking OAC opposition John Carroll 3-0 at Kerscher Stadium in Ada, Ohio.
With the victory, Northern improves to 11-2-0 overall and an undefeated 5-0-0 in the Ohio Athletic Conference this season. Meanwhile, the Blue Streaks fall to 4-9-1 and 1-4-0 in league action.
The Polar Bears would receive braces from their two leading scorers as sophomore Jenna Fuller (Countryside, Ill./Lyons Township) and senior McKenna Welsh (Westerville/Bishop Hartley) found the scoresheet in the victory.
Welsh would provide the game-winning goal just 14 minutes into the match, the seventh goal of her final season. Junior Rose Nienaber (Cincinnati/Oak Hills) reigned in a loose ball and found Welsh open inside the penalty box to record the assist. Welsh would flick the pass over the head of Blue Streak goalkeeper Danielle DelGiudice to record her fifth goal in her past four appearances.
The Polar Bears would head to the halftime break with a 1-0 advantage as the early goal would serve as the only strike of the half.
Following the intermission, Ohio Northern would continue to apply pressure on the John Carroll backline until Fuller broke through with her first goal of the match in the 60th minute. A dangerous cross into the box would bounce off several Blue Streak players and eventually find Fuller standing wide open at the top of the penalty box. The sophomore would capitalize on the provided space, doubling the Polar Bear lead.
Nine minutes later, Fuller would find the net for a second time Saturday afternoon, blasting a 22-yard, left-footed shot after creating shooting space on the right side of the field. The two-goal effort gives Fuller 13 braces on the season, surpassing the 12-goal total netted during her freshman campaign, and 25 scores in her career.
Welsh would pace the Polar Bears offense with six shots while Fuller ended with five.
In net, junior goalkeeper Meagan Grierson (Miamisburg) would record her ninth shutout this season after facing just three shots with no attempts on frame. She now has 29 clean sheets in her career, just one shy of the second-best total in school history.
ONU would benefit from a 28-3 overall shots advantage in the match, which included a 12-0 shots on goal margin. Northern would rack up six corner kicks during the weekend affair while John Carroll was limited to three attempts.
Ohio Northern will return to action when they travel to OAC foe Heidelberg on Wednesday, October 17. Match time is set for 7 p.m. at Hoernemann Stadium in Tiffin, Ohio.
