Women’s Soccer wins seventh straight, men cruise over Saint Mary
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Wesleyan keeper Kelly Balch punts a ball back to her teammates during the Coyotes' 2-0 win over Saint Mary on Friday

Kansas Wesleyan’s soccer teams pitched another pair of shutouts as the women won their seventh straight match 2-0, and the men won 5-0 over the University of Saint Mary on Friday night at Martin Stadium.

In the women’s match, Heather Muilenberg got the Coyotes on the board early with a goal on a pass from Juliet Cervantes in the fifth minute to put the Coyotes up 1-0.

Wesleyan had several more scoring chances in the first half, but could not find the net, as a strong Saint Mary defense held the Coyotes off the board for the remainder of the half.

The Coyotes did add a little insurance late in the second half to preserve the win that moves the team to 12-2-1 overall and 7-0 in KCAC play. Danielle Johanson took a pass from Cervantes and poked it past Lyndsey Baxter in the 75th minute. Cervantes got a perfect pass from Muilenberg deep inside the box, and dumped a short pass to Johanson inside the six-yard box for the score.

Kelly Balch recored her fifth shutout of the season as the Coyotes' posted their 11th shutout in the team's 12 wins on the season. Fellow keeper Ashley Trinidad also has four shutouts on the season.

The win solidifies the women’s chances of capturing the regular season championship but the Coyotes still have two matches remaining against Ottawa next Tuesday and Tabor next Saturday.

The men had another outstanding showing following the 3-1 win over McPherson on Tuesday night. Steve Gloria scored two goals, and Mike Padilla had a pair of assists as the Coyotes cruised over Saint Mary 5-0.

Gloria found the net first with a perfectly placed header off a free kick from Mike Padilla in the 11th minute. Just three minutes later, Trey Thompson added a score as he went one-on-one with Saint Mary keeper Justin Seever. Thompson fired a shot, and then played the rebound after the ball got away and behind Seever for the easy score.

Miguel Winceslao turned the match into a blowout in the 19th minute, as he took a Thompson pass and scored.

Tyler Little then gave the Coyotes a 4-0 lead, which carried into halftime in the 33rd minute, as he scored off a pass from Padilla.

The Coyotes added a fifth goal in the 55th minute as Gloria scored on a pass from Abe Moran. Seever came out to play the ball, but Gloria got by him and scored easily.

Saint Mary had one good scoring chance in the 64th minute as Alex Currie got inside the box, but Wesleyan keeper Wayne Johnson made a great slide save to preserve his eighth shutout of the season.

The win pushes the Coyotes record to 11-3 overall, and 6-1 in the KCAC.

The Coyotes wrap up the regular season next week with two final home matches. KWU plays Ottawa on Wednesday, and then hosts Tabor Saturday night, before heading into the KCAC Post-Season Tournament in two weeks.

-- KWU SI --