Beacons Score Early, Beat Geoducks 4-1
A trio of first-half goals got visiting Northwest Christian off to a strong start Friday afternoon as the Beacons defeated The Evergreen State College, 4-1, in Cascade Collegiate Conference women's soccer action at Geoduck Pitch.
Melyssa Weber netted twice in the opening period for the Beacons (3-12-1 overall, 2-8-0 CCC), who ended the game with 16 shots compared to eight for the host Geoducks (2-12-0, 2-8-0).
Joceline Howard opened Northwest Christian's account at 21:59 of the opening half, tapping the ball into the open net after Evergreen goalkeeper Kayla Baskett was unable to cleanly handle Sami Wilson's shot. The goal was the first of the season for Howard.
Weber, NCU's leading scorer with five goals, got her first of the match and the team's second at 24:14. She beat a hard-charging Baskett to a loose ball in Evergreen's defensive third, touched it around the keeper, and then hit the far right side net from a sharp angle. The team's third goal came at 40:48 and also belonged to Weber, who got in behind the Evergreen defense on the dribble before slotting home from about 12 yards out.
The Geoducks got back into the game with a goal at 52:44, the honor going to Loren Switzer. Normally a defender, Switzer moved forward to provide a goal-scoring threat for the host team and she delivered, heading a cross from Kenzie Phillips past Beacons goalkeeper Kristin Fulbright and into the net.
Northwest Christian got the goal back at the 69:13 mark, however, as Candis Hatfield notched her first goal of the campaign. She picked up a poor clearance by the Geoducks and scored from about 10 yards.
In addition to outshooting the Geoducks, the Beacons also had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Fulbright picked up the win in goal, allowing the one tally and recording two saves. Baskett was credited with seven saves as NCU put 11 of their 16 attempts on target.
With the loss the Geoducks are eliminated from conference postseason tournament consideration. They play their final game of the season at 2 p.m. Saturday against Corban.