The Spring Arbor University women's soccer team had a big afternoon, knocking off the Marian University Knights 5-0 at the friendly confines of the Cougar Soccer Field.

Junior Braydan Wiles got things going for the Cougars when the Marian keeper had to come off her line to clear a Karly Linton through ball.  Wiles chest trapped the clearance and sent a chip over the MU keeper as she tried to retreat to her goal.  The effort found the net just below the crossbar to put the Cougars up 1-0.

In a back and forth first half both teams battled to try to scratch out the next goal, with neither finding success solving the other team's defense.

After some halftime adjustments, Spring Arbor was quick to pad the lead, as Linton took a Megan Wegener pass and drilled a left footed bullet from the top of the Knight's penalty area to make the score 2-0.

Spring Arbor found a third goal ten minutes later when freshman Becca Lynn served a direct kick into the Knight's penalty box.  The service sailed through a crowd of players untouched and came out the other side, surprising the Knight's keeper and finding the left side netting.  The goal was Lynn's first in a Cougar uniform.

Wiles was back at it five minutes later when the Knights cleared a SAU cross out of their box.  The Pendleton, Indiana native rushed forward from her defensive midfield position and took the clearance on the short hop, unleashing a 22 yard half volley that screamed into the upper left corner of the net.

Freshman Courtney Harrison polished off the scoring in the 70th minute for the Lady Cougars.  Linton got loose on the endline after a penetrating dribbling run and  Harrison rushed into the six yard box, leaving her feet and flicking the ball into the lower left corner of the net to give SAU a 5-0 win.

Marian, who entered the match ranked 30th in the latest NAIA national polls were out-shot by the host Cougars 20-13 on the day.

"We made some nice adjustments after halftime," commented SAU head coach Jason Crist.  The girls responded very well to what was asked of them, and we had a lot of success going forward against them.  We have a ton of respect for Marian, as they have a very talented, well coached side, so this was a solid win for us."

"We played hard for each other today," commented Wiles after the match.  "This was a big win, and we accomplished it as a team."

The #11 Cougars (9-1-1) are off until Tuesday when they make the long trek to Mount Vernon, Ohio to take on the Mount Vernon Nazarene University Cougars.  The match will kick off at 4:00 p.m. EST.