Shutout Gives Lady Jackets Season Record (Oct. 10, 2004)
Box Score

BILLINGS, MT – Another dominating performance and another shutout gave the MSU Billings women’s soccer team its school-record tenth win of the season Sunday.  The Yellowjackets out-shot Grand Canyon 23-13 en route to a 3-0 victory.  The win improved MSU Billings to 10-3-1, including an 8-0-1 record at home, also a program best.

Alyssa Wolfer (So., Longmont, CO) scored the only goal of the first half after two quick touches from Ally Taylor and Margot Merrill-Johnson pulled the Lopes’ goalkeeper out of position.  Wolfer tapped in her fifth goal of the season at 21:50 for the eventual game winner.  MSU Billings held an 11-6 shot advantage in the first half, including 6-1 shots on goal. 

Merrill-Johnson (Sr., Salt Lake City) and Ally Taylor (So., Ojai, CA) teamed up just seven minutes into the second half for the Yellowjackets’ second goal.  Merrill-Johnson gained control of Taylor’s corner kick into the box and fired past Lopes goalkeeper Katie Mical for a 2-0 Yellowjacket advantage at 52:12.  Merrill-Johnson leads the team with eight goals and 21 points.  Taylor’s two assists give her five for the season.  She is second on the team with 19 points.

The Yellowjackets put the game out of reach at 87:53 when Brittney Sandau (Fr., Billings, MT) outraced the defense and found Candy Cherry (Sr., Missoula, MT) across the box for a point-blank goal.  Sandau attacked Mical, drawing her to the right side of the box before passing off to Cherry at the far post.  It was Cherry’s second goal of the year.  Sandau’s assist was her team-leading sixth of the season.

MSU Billings goalkeeper Megan Plank (So., Phoenix, AZ) made four saves, three in the second half, for her fourth shutout of the season.  She has allowed just one goal in the Yellowjackets’ current four-game winning streak, lowering her goals against average to 0.96. 

The Yellowjackets next face a tough two-game road swing to Idaho where they’ll take on Boise State and Northwest Nazarene.  MSU Billings doesn’t play at home again until October 31 when they host Carroll College.  A win would give the Jackets an unbeaten home record for the first time ever.