The Spring Arbor University women's soccer team cruised to another convincing win on Saturday, blanking Goshen College 5-0 in their final regular season home match of the year.
Facing a bunkered down and defensive minded Goshen team, the Cougars put any questions about the result away early, as senior Jenna Bigger knocked home a service from fellow senior Kristin Abbott in the third minute of play for the game winner.
In spite of heavy pressure from the Cougars, the Maple Leafs kept all 11 of their players behind the ball and fended off multiple SAU attacks until the 23rd minute of play when senior Rachel Sinkovitz bent in the second goal of the match directly off a corner kick. The corner was one of four SAU corner kicks in the match.
Spring Arbor added a third goal just before halftime in the 43rd minute when senior Jessica Clarke one-timed a Jalese DeBiasi cross past Maple Leaf goalkeeper Lynn Weaver to make the score 3-0.
With the game well in hand, SAU tacked on two more goals in the second half.
Sophomore defender Hannah Adams scored her first career goal in epic fashion, combining with fellow sophomore Braydan Wiles at midfield before dribbling nearly 60 yards past a host of Maple Leaf defenders and slotting home to the left of Weaver in the 49th minute.
Sophomore Maegan Smith finished the scoring for SAU in the 52nd minute, catching Weaver off her line and looping a pass from Sinkovitz over the top to make the score 5-0.
Spring Arbor out-shot the Maple Leafs 25-1 for the match, and put 15 of their 25 shots on goal.
"We are doing a good job finding the back of the net right now," commented SAU head coach Jason Crist. "We are really spreading the ball around nicely, and our opportunities are reflecting that. We will need to continue to improve if we hope to be successful in the post season."
The Cougars have now outscored their opponents 28-1 over the past six games, and have not had a single game in that stretch where one player has scored more than one goal in a game.
Spring Arbor will round out their regular season on Tuesday when they face off with the University of St. Francis. The game will be played on USF's campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana and will kick off at 4:00 p.m.
