Huntington trounces Manchester 9-0

NORTH MANCHESTER, Ind.  – The Huntington women's soccer team ran away with a 9-0 win over Manchester University Wednesday afternoon at Good Field. It's the program's largest margin of victory since September of 2012 when the Foresters blanked Andrews 11-0.

HU has dominated the series between these two squads. Just 30 minutes apart, these two teams have squared off ten times since 2008 with the Foresters topping the Spartans in all but one of those meetings.

There were plenty of reasons to celebrate today's match with Paige Weiss' play at the top of the list. The sophomore mid had a hat trick by halftime. She scored three of her team's eight first half goals and then assisted Huntington's final goal in the second frame for seven points on the day.

Freshman Sophie Shepherd needed less than a minute to establish a lead for her team that would not be challenged. She book-ended HU's scoring frenzy by finding back netting just :48 seconds into the contest and then capping things off in the 61st minute with her team's ninth and final goal.

Several other newcomers also put points on the board for Huntington. Freshmen Lia Luchetti and Ally Oppenhuizen scored within 90 seconds of each other starting in the 30th minute. For both it marked their first collegiate goal.

Sophomore Katie Hooley and junior Madeline Gile accounted for the guests' other two goals. Hooley's goal at the 13-minute mark gave HU a 4-0 lead while Gile's came :30 seconds before halftime to make for an 8-0 chasm by the midway point.

It was a consummate team win with a stat sheet to prove it. Six different Foresters scored at least one goal while eight different Foresters were credited with an assist. When all was said and done, HU outshot their hosts 21-5 with 14 on frame to Manchester's one.

Ireland Aerni and Savannah Grove each stood tall in frame to preserve the shutout.

Huntington is back on the road Saturday to face Anderson at 1:00 p.m.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 18 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 154 NAIA All-America honors and 501 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.