JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College women's soccer team grasped control of Thursday night's match with Blackburn College early on, scoring twice within five minutes in the middle of the first half. The Lady Blues added another before halftime and then a final tally just after halftime to complete a 4-0 win over the Beavers. IC improves to 4-1-0 on the season with the victory.
After a sluggish start to the match from each side, Illinois College found another gear in a hurry. The scoring started in the 18th minute when
Mychaela Bennett headed home a corner kick from
Carlee Fowler to make it 1-0. Less than five minutes after that, a Blackburn foul in the midfield allowed
Charity Yount to line up a shot from at least 25 yards out and the freshman put it out of keeper Morgan Zobrist's reach in the top corner to make it 2-0.
Before the match reached halftime,
Kaylee Andrea was brought down by a reckless challenge outside the 18-yard box from Zobrist, earning the Blackburn goalkeeper a yellow card. On the free kick from the right wing, Bennett put a ball back post and freshman
Hannah Weid was on the end of it to up IC's lead to 3-0 at the break.
The Lady Blues scored their final goal in the 51st minute off of another corner kick. Yount supplied the delivery and
Ashley Brokaw got a head to it. Leading comfortably, Illinois College was able to mix up its lineup the rest of the way. Both
Savannah Henson and
Lindsey Kormelink saw time in goal, replacing
Charlotte Crofton after a pair of saves in the first half saw Crofton earn her fourth win of the season.
Illinois College ended the night with a 14-8 advantage in total shots. Bennett had a match-high five of those, while
Morgan Lallish ended with four.
The Lady Blues will be off this weekend, returning to action on Sept. 17 at Webster University. IC will square off with the Gorloks that evening at 5 p.m.
