It was a successful weekend for the WSU women’s soccer team, winning two home matches on Friday and Sunday to defend its home field.

Friday’s match against Montana (3-1-1) marked a return to Palouse for the team, as it lost its previous match to Gonzaga 1-0 in Spokane.

The Cougars (3-2) took on a Montana team that had not previously lost a match on the year. WSU controlled ball possession in the first half, which lead to four shots on goal by the Cougars.

A defensive slip-up by WSU led to a Grizzlies goal in the 26th minute of play. The goal was made by sophomore forward McKenzie Warren who scored from inside the goalie box. It was the first shot on goal by the Grizzlies.

“The one shot they had in the first half was a goal, and it was a mistake on us,” WSU Head Coach Todd Shulenberger said. “The part I don’t like is that we need to go down a goal to get the urgency going. We don’t need a response after the fact that we are down.”

The Cougars responded in the 34th minute with a goal of their own to equalize the score. Sophomore forward Alysha Overland connected with a cross assisted by junior defender Jordan Branch to send the ball past the Grizzlies keeper and tie the score.

Overland did not stop there, scoring her second goal of the match less than two minutes later after a long run down the field to put the Cougars up for good at 2-1. Overland’s breakaway ended with a shot past the keeper in the lower left corner of the goal, which later proved to be the game winner.

“When I went in I just wanted to make a difference,” Overland said. “I was looking to pass but then I was like ‘wait I feel like I can keep going’ so I kept going and I scored.”

The Cougars carried their success into their second game of the weeken on Sunday when they went head-to-head with North Dakota State. WSU outshot the Bison 29-3 behind freshman forward Morgan Weaver in a blowout 5-0 win.

Weaver, who has consistently led the Cougars in shots taken but had not yet scored a goal, scored three goals in the match for a hat trick. The University Place native scored the first, third and fourth goals for WSU.

Senior midfielder Kailiana Johnson netted the second goal of the game when she chested the ball off a cross by senior forward Kaitlin Johnson into the lower right corner. Freshman Katie Jones scored the fifth and final goal for the Cougars in the 86th minute of play.

The team will hit the road once more this week to face the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs in Fort Worth, Texas. The start time for the match is set for 5:01 p.m. on Friday