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Kansas City
UT Rio Grande Valley
Roos Advance to Semifinals of WAC Tourney with 4-1 Win Over UTRGV
11/3/2016 11:04:00 PM | Women's Soccer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – UMKC women's soccer opened the 2016 Western Athletic Conference Tournament with a 4-1 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley on Thursday evening at Durwood Soccer Stadium, with four different players scoring on the night. The win moved the Roos into the semifinals of the WAC Tournament, where they will face CSU Bakersfield on Friday.
UMKC (7-9-4, 3-2-2 WAC) forced the issue early, and in the 14th minute nearly took an early lead. Sophomore Kelsey Mothershead (Smithville, Mo.) received a perfect pass from junior Kara Priest (Overland Park, Kan.) and beat a defender and the goalkeeper near the six-yard box. After regaining her possession, the sophomore fired a shot that was kept out of the net by a UTRGV (10-8-1, 2-5-0 WAC) defender, keeping the Roos off the board.
UMKC wasn't held back for long, however, as senior Niekie Pellens (Naarden, Netherlands) took advantage of a penalty kick in the 31st minute. UTRGV was called for a foul inside the penalty box, and the Second-Team All-WAC selection stepped up and slotted the goal to give UMKC a 1-0 lead.
The Roos took the one goal advantage into the half, and came out of the intermission with fire in their eyes. Junior Lilly Cobb (Glen Carbon, Ill.) scored to make it 2-0 with a beautiful shot tucked in the far post in the 51st minute.
Sophomore Reighan Childers (Grain Valley, Mo.) created a great scoring opportunity for Priest, placing a through-ball for the junior with plenty of room to work. Priest played the perfect pass with ease, and beat the UTRGV keeper for the 3-0 lead in the 58th minute.
UMKC all but closed the doors on the Vaqueros in the 72nd minute, when sophomore Ryann Burnett (Wichita, Kan.) found 2016 WAC Preseason Player of the Year, sophomore Lexie Howard (Kearney, Mo.) with only the keeper to beat in front of the net. Howard fired the shot home, giving the Roos a four goal advantage with just 18 minutes to play.
The Vaqueros got a goal back, scoring in the 79th minute, spoiling the shutout for sophomore goalkeeper Anna Lillig (Kansas City, Mo.). Despite the goal, Lillig played a brilliant match, posting nine saves on the night, her highest total since Sept. 2 against Memphis where she recorded a career-high 10 saves.
UMKC will face No. 2 CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 4. The two faced off earlier this season at Durwood Stadium, with the Roos handing the Runners a 3-0 loss. A win for UMKC would move them into the WAC championship match for the third time in four years, where they would face the winner of No. 1 Seattle U and No. 4 Utah Valley.
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