The Cougars (4-5-4) beat the LMU Lions 2-0 on Saturday Oct. 11 in Pullman. This is the second win in conference play for the Cougars sitting in seventh place tied with Seattle University.

Throughout the whole game the Cougars were able to maintain control of the midfield and were able to keep possession of the ball and move it forward to create chances.

“We really controlled the game we had a lot of shots on goal it felt really good after the tie against Santa Clara and the loss so it was good coming back,” said freshman Isabelle Wright.

While the cougars were only able to find the back of the net twice there were several quality looks for the Cougars seeing multiple shots hit the crossbar or go wide of goal. WSU ended the game with 32 shots, ten of them being on goal.
Four Cougars ended the game with four shots. Sophomore Audrey Shackelford had a shot go off the crossbar. Freshman Aaya Mclyn ended the game with four shots all were shot outside the 18 yard box and while none of them found the back of the net the shots weren’t too far off goal. Junior Alena Watts had four shots that were all just off target going wide of goal. Additionally the Cougars were able to end the game with 11 corner kicks.

“There was a lot of wide space out wide and there was a lot of space on top of the box and we got so many shots right there,” said Wright.

The first goal was scored by freshman Journey Middleborn who was able to open up the scoring for the Cougars in the 29th minute, getting her second goal on the year. Redshirt-senior Jorydn Young found the net in the 67th minute scoring her fourth goal of the year.

“I saw they were giving me a lot of space and I was trying to win my 1v1 battles. She was giving me a lot of space just took the shot kind of back post upper 90,” said Young

The weather was a factor of the night seeing on and off rain causing a wet ball and slippery field where multiple players slipped while on the ball.

“The ball was really slippery really wet so we just had to kind of be on your p’s and q’s our touches had to be really clean and I think we did that tonight it was a really clean performance,” said Young.

Young leads the team in scoring with four goals on the season. Behind her with two goals each are sophomore Audrey Shackelford, graduate student Abigail Siddall and freshman Journey Middleborn who got her second tonight. Wright was able to pick up her fourth assist on the year leading the team. Behind her with two is Shackelford. Through five games of conference play the Cougars have scored eight goals.

“Were just getting more comfortable with each other up front and it’s a new group of young ladies up front newbies meaning freshman and transfers who are starting to get it,” said Head coach Todd Shulenberger.

On the defensive end the Cougars took a huge loss seeing redshirt-senior and team captain Peyton Price go down. She will be out for the rest of the season. She is the second team captain to go down. Redshirt fifth-year and team captain Jenna Studer went down with a season ending injury against UC Irvine on Sep. 14. Studer was named to the preseason all-WCC preseason team. This leaves Maggie Mace as the only captain that is healthy for the team.

Redshirt-fifth year goalkeeper Kiera Fitzgerald went down with a season ending injury against North Dakota State University on Sep. 18. Good news is redshirt-freshman Kiera Mitchell has returned for the Cougars she has missed two games for the Cougars returning last game wearing a black mask to protect a facial injury.

Despite all of the injuries the Cougars were able to keep the Lions to zero goals on only six shots. Goalkeeper Zora Standifer was able to end the game with three saves and she picked up her first clean sheet for the Cougars.

Physicality was a factor in this as well, seeing the Cougars end the game with 17 fouls and one yellow, the lone yellow coming in the 55th minute with the card being given to Ava Ghoreishi for persistent infringement. LMU ended the game with ten fouls and no cards.

Freshman tonight have had a big impact on the team this season with eight freshmen having an impact on the team this year.

“We’re starting six or seven freshmen and they’re getting minutes under their belt and performing. It’s not just like they’re just plugging in numbers they’re getting things done they’re scoring goals they’re getting assist so I‘m proud of those young kids for sure,” said Shulenberger “

The Cougars will get a week of rest before their next game on Saturday Oct.18 at the lower soccer field where they will face Gonzaga.