Yellowjackets Cruise to 5-1 Victory over Wildcats
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT - Montana State University-Billings women’s soccer remained unbeaten, improving to 6-0-1 on the season with a 5-1 victory over Central Washington on Saturday.  The win extended the team's school-record unbeaten streak to seven games.

Midfielder Stephanie Clark (Sr. MF, Tualitin, OR) opened up the game at 15:38 with a goal from 10 yards out that was assisted by Margot Merrill-Johnson (Sr. MF, Salt Lake City).  Merrill-Johnson came back 15 minutes later with an unassisted goal on a one on one with the Wildcats’ goalkeeper.  The goal was Merrill-Johnson’s team-leading fifth of the season.

The Yellowjackets rounded out the opening half with a goal from the corner by Ally Taylor (So. MF, Ojai, CA).  The goal was assisted by Amy Stephens (Fr. MF, Colorado Springs, CO).

Central Washington struck first in the second half with a goal scored in the 43^rd minute by Michelle Beattie, assisted by Ashley Rountree.  The Yellowjackets nearly scored again when team captain Candy Cherry (Sr. MF, Missoula, MT) beat the defender and passed the ball to Alyssa Wolfer (So. F, Longmont, CO) who kicked high off the goal.  The fourth goal by the Lady Jackets came in front of the box at 74:05 when Jenny Moellendorf (So. F, Green River, WY) passed to Laura Trinkle (Sr. D, Westminster, CO) who put it in the goal.  Abby Bennett (Fr. MF, Livingston, MT) scored the final goal of the game with just eight minutes remaining on the clock.  The goal came unassisted from 10 yards outside of the box.

“We wanted to come out strong and be aggressive today against the Wildcats,” said Megan Beckstead.  “They beat us 3-0 last year and we wanted to show them that we are a strong team.” 

“We are on a roll right now and that gives us confidence going into our game against Seattle Pacific next week,” added Beckstead.  “We can’t play scared, we just need to play hard and keep doing what we have been.”

Kelsey Vinnedge said, “We came out strong and things just connected today with our passes and rhythm of the game.  It felt good to have another win, and we need to use that and stay focused for our game in Seattle.”

“I am enjoying our season so far,” stated head coach Don Trentham.  “We are having fun, we are confident and we are working together.”  “We have a great opportunity this week against Seattle Pacific.  They are one of the best teams in the country so we need to stay focused and be intense.”

The Yellowjackets are on the road next week and take on Seattle Pacific, Seattle University and Western Washington on Wednesday Sept. 22^nd, Saturday Sept. 25^th, and Monday Sept. 27^th respectively.  SPU is ranked No. 1 in the Far West Region, Seattle is ranked second and Western Washington is ninth.  The Yellowjackets were ranked No. 10 in the region last week.