Women's Soccer's Offense Explodes In 6-2 Win Over Walsh To Open Conference Play

OVERVIEW – WALSH

SCORE: Northwood Timberwolves 6, Walsh Cavaliers 2

RECORDS: Northwood (3-0-2, 1-0-0 G-MAC), Walsh (3-1-1, 0-1-1 G-MAC)

LOCATION: Dean Field – Midland, Mich.

RECAP: Women's soccer opened conference play by hosting Walsh Saturday (September 21). The Timberwolves jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and never looked back, going on to a 6-2 victory over the Cavaliers.

GAME HIGHLIGHTS

• Northwood started the first half how they finished the previous match against Michigan Tech (September 17), scoring their first goal of the game in the 3'.  Walsh's goalkeeper couldn't get enough of Mia Thomson's shot to redirect it as the ball trickled into the lower right corner. Brooke Honeycutt's cross was credited with the assist, 1-0 NU.
• Stephanie O'Keefe added to Northwood's lead, scoring off a deflected ball in the box just past the 11' mark, 2-0 NU.
• Honeycutt's presence was felt in the 19'. She slipped by a few defenders on the left before drawing a foul in the box to earn NU's first penalty kick of the year. Ashtyn Lange punched it in to give Nu the 3-0 advantage.
• Walsh cut the lead back to two with a goal near the end of the first half (37').
• At the end of the first half, most offense stats were nearly identical, with Northwood having the slight advantage in shots 10-9 and corners 2-1. The difference came as 8 of NU's ten shots were on target versus just two from Walsh.
• NU's offensive explosion continued into the second half. Starting in the 65', Lange added her second of the match off a feed from Brooke Honeycutt on the left side, 4-1 NU.
• Twelve minutes later, with some Northwood subs, Kendall Buchman found Mari Jackson from the right side to give Northwood its largest lead of the match, 5-1 NU.
• Down four, Walsh added a second to cut it to 5-2 in the 78'.
• Ella Boyd would score the first goal of her career via a penalty in the 81', 6-2 NU. Boyd earned the penalty after Walsh's goalkeeper slid into Boyd, charging after a loose ball. Three yellow cards would be dealt following the play, 2- to Walsh and one to Northwood.
• Walsh wouldn't get any closer as Northwood ran away with a 6-2 victory. Northwood outshot the Cavaliers 13-7 via on-target shots and led 5-2 in corners.
• The victory marks the largest margin of victory over the Cavaliers in program history.
• The Timberwolves have scored 10 times over their last three halves of soccer, dating back to the match with Michigan Tech on Spetember 17.

GAME epATS

• Shots: Northwood 22 (13), Walsh 20 (7)
• Saves: Northwood 5 (Lindsay Jacob), Walsh 7 (O'Malley Quinlan)
• Corners: Northwood 5, Walsh 2

TOP NU PERFORMERS

• Lange:  2 Goals (3)
• Thomson: Goal (1)
• O'Keefe: Goal (1)
• Jackson: Goal (1)
• Ella Boyd: Goal (1)
• Honeycutt: 2 Assists
• Buchman: Assist

UP NEXT

• Northwood sets out for a big conference road trip to Ohio for bouts against 2023 NCAA Tournament qualifiers on Thursday (September 21) versus No. 11 Ashland and Saturday (September 28) versus Cedarville. NU's match with Ashland is set for a 6:30 p.m. first kick.