EVANSVILLE – After a difficult preseason, the University of Evansville women's soccer team is starting to hit its stride in Missouri Valley Conference play, and that was certainly evident on Sunday afternoon as the Purple Aces grabbed an early lead and never looked back in a 3-1 victory over Northern Iowa.
"We talk about starting fast with the girls all the time," UE head coach Krista McKendree said. "We've been trying to make sure that we bring out that kind of energy and will to compete at the start of the game, and we did that today. I think we're playing a little more confident right now, and we're starting to get the results too."
The Aces (3-9-1) moved to a perfect 2-0-0 in league play thanks to three goals inside the first 21 minutes. The Panthers dropped to 7-5-1 and 1-1-0 in the MVC.
Montana Portenier wasted little time into putting an end to her own goal drought. The junior out of London, Ontario, beat a pair of Panther defenders in the fourth minute before finishing cleanly past reigning MVC Goalkeeper of the Week Maddie Lesjak. It was the forward's second goal on the year after missing all of last season due to injury.
"It's great to put one away early because we had been working on finishing this week in practice," Portenier said. "This is a big confidence booster for us. It's not the greatest feeling to lose a few games, so to be able to bounce back when it matters is a big morale boost for everyone on the team."
The Aces would hold on to the momentum as JBess Ruby doubled the lead in the 17
th minute with a shot from outside the 18-yard box to make it 2-0. It marked the Birmingham, Mich., native's first career goal, and she wasn't done yet, as she helped set up Mikayla Harvey's first goal just four minutes later.
A 54
th minute penalty from UNI's Sarah Brandt reclaimed a goal for the visitors, but that would be all the Panthers could muster.
The Aces will return to action next Saturday with a trip to Loyola. A win there would give the Aces their first 3-0-0 start to Valley play since 2008.
NOTES: Bronwyn Boswell is tied for ninth in school history with 19 career goals … She's one away from moving into a tie with Shelean Roylance for the eighth-best total … UE is 13-3-2 all-time against Northern Iowa … The Aces have won five of the last six meetings with the Panthers, including a 1-0 MVC tournament win last season … The only loss was a 1-0 regular season loss last year … UE is 22-13-2 all-time versus schools from the state of Iowa and 2-2-0 all-time on Oct. 2.
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