PORTLAND, Ore.—In a matchup of two top-25 teams, the No. 5 Concordia women’s soccer team scored three first-half goals to beat No. 24 Westminster (Utah) College, 3-0 on Sunday.

The win closed out the non-conference schedule for Concordia as the Cavs will now enter conference play next week with a 5-3-1 record overall. For Westminster, the loss dropped them to 6-4-1 on the year.

“We knew that Westminster had had some good results so we were ready in the first half,” said CU Head Coach Grant Landy. “I thought our first half was really good. We moved the ball around well and got some great goals.”

The first Concordia goal came in the 17th minute when midfielder Erin Huisingh picked off a pass out to a Westminster defender. Huisingh then dribbled back to the middle where she launched a shot from 22 yards that bounced hard off the crossbar and almost straight down. Fortunately for the Cavs, a delayed call from the referee ruled that the ball had cross the goal line and Concordia took the early 1-0 lead.

Concordia kept pressuring the Westminster defense, however, and scored again in the 26th minute when forward Alex Thomas sent in a ball from 20 yards out off an assist from Kaylynn Winwood.

With that goal, the Concordia offense had built itself a two goal cushion, but continued to play like the game was tied. In the 36th minute, freshman Ashley Ames scored her first goal as a Cavalier to put her team up big, 3-0.

“It was great for Ashley a freshman to get her first goal,” said Landy. “She had been working extremely hard in practice and I had a feeling that she was going to get a goal today.”

The score came after senior Brittany Orr played the ball up from the right to directly in front of the goal. As the pass came in, freshman Annika Hayman found herself part of a 2-on-1 along with Ames against the Westminster goalie. Now with the ball, Hayman flicked it to Ames who shot it into the upper right corner of the net.

At the half, Concordia had not only built up a three-goal lead, but also had created an 8-to-2 advantage in shots and a 3-to-0 advantage in corners.

After the half, however, the pressure turned to the Concordia defense to preserve the shutout as Westminster stepped up their game offensively.

In the new half, Westminster put up five shots to Concordia’s three and bested the Cavs in corners, 4-to-2, as well.

Still, CU goalkeeper Tori Talbutt and her defense kept Westminster from scoring, giving Talbutt and the team their fourth shutout of the season.

Talbutt faced two shots on goal during the match, but saved both. In the Westminster goal, keeper Dayna Winter-Nolte fended off three shots on goal from Concordia in the losing effort.

The Griffens open Frontier Conference-play, themselves, next weekend, Oct. 1 against Carroll College. For Concordia, as Landy previewed, the team travels to face Oregon Tech on Saturday, Oct. 1 before returning to action on Monday, Oct. 3 against Southern Oregon.

“Our whole non-conference schedule was designed to get us ready for conference play,” said Landy. “Six out of the nine opponents were ranked. I feel like I’ve exposed my players to several different styles of play. The first road trip to Oregon Tech and Southern Oregon is always a hard one so hopefully our players are ready for it.”