Coyotes sweep McPherson to remain unbeaten in conference play
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

Heather Muilenburg scored both goals for the women, and Jose Garay and Mario Rodriguez each had a goal and an assist for the men as the Kansas Wesleyan soccer teams capped Homecoming 2008 with a sweep of McPherson on Saturday night at Salina Stadium. The Coyote women won 2-1 in overtime, while the men pitched their third straight shutout with a 4-0 win.

McPherson’s women packed in the defensive in the first half to try to keep the high powered KWU offense off the scoreboard, and the plan worked, despite allowing eight shots to the Coyotes in the first 45 minutes.

Wesleyan had great looks at the goal but McPherson’s Andrea Swanson made four great saves to keep the Coyotes off the board.

McPherson got on the board  first in the 65th minute, when Stachea Perea converted after a Wesleyan foul. Her shot from just outside the left corner of the penalty box was perfectly placed in the upper right corner of the net, past the reach of KWU keeper Kelli Beatty.

Just four minutes later the Coyotes answered back with the equalizer. The Coyotes were awards with a corner kick and senior Kat Benton kicked the ball out to Hannah Kern, who then found Muilenburg inside the box, who fired a laser shot past Swanson for the score.

The Coyotes had a couple more chances that would have given them the lead but shots from Alexa Chico and Imaan Issa were blocked and saved, respectively, to keep the match tied.

Benton had a chance to give the Coyotes the lead in the 88th minute, but her shot was high and Swanson was able to stop Parada’s shot with 40 seconds left in regulation to send the match into overtime.

Benton nearly ended the match 31 seconds into overtime when she had a wide open look at the net, but sent her shot high. Muilenburg had a chance to end it in the 93rd minute, but her shot was just wide, but the Salina native got redemption in the 96th. She took a ball down the right side into the box and fired a shot that Swanson missed and ended the match with 4:40 left in overtime.

Wesleyan (6-5-1, 3-0 KCAC), who jumped over the .500 mark for the first time since its trip to California in mid-September, outshot the Bulldogs (5-4-2, 1-2 KCAC) 21-4 in the match, led by Muilenburg with six total shots, four on frame including the two goals. Benton had five shots, one on goal, and added an assist.

McPherson had just four shots in the match, led by lone substitute player Perea with two, including a goal.

In the men’s match it was all Wesleyan (5-6-1, 3-0 KCAC) from the opening kickoff. It only took one minute and ten seconds for the Coyotes to score their first goal. Abraham Moran set up Jose Garay with a pass over the middle and Garay easily scored on a chip shot to the left of keeper Blake Jett.

Defender Juan Mundo then made it 2-0 Coyotes in the 13th minute with a kick that even David Beckham would have envied. Following a foul against Jose Garay, Mundo came up from the back to take the direct kick from about 25-yards out on the right side. Mundo sent a bending wide shot that took a sweeping right turn and found its way inside the top corner of the goal for the score.

The Coyotes made it 3-0 in the 48th minute when Moran took a pass from Garay, reversing roles from Wesleyan’s first goal of the match. Garay sent a ball into Moran who had a one-on-one opportunity against back-up McPherson (4-6-1, 1-1-1 KCAC) keeper Chris Plooster and easily scored.

Art Guizar capped the scoring in the match in the 69th minute when he dribbled a ball in against Plooster and fired a shot passed him for the score.

Both teams then emptied their benches and allowed younger players to get some valuable playing time.

The Coyotes outshot McPherson 18-2, led by Moran and Guizar with three shots each. Robert Carrillo got the shutout in goal for the Coyotes.

Wesleyan heads to Wichita to take on Friends University on Wednesday before returning home for a Sunday match-up with Saint Mary at Salina Stadium.

-- KWU SI --