The Northwest University (NU) Eagles women’s soccer team opened Cascade Conference play with a 3-0 shutout of Oregon Tech on the Steen Sports Field on Thursday.
NU senior, Rachel Saleen scored what proved to the be the game winner and her second goal of the season at the 27:04 mark after she dribbled past an Owl defender and put her shot into the lower left corner of the net. The Eagles dominated the offensive side of the game with 19 first half shots, nine shots-on-goal while the defense held OIT to just three shots.
NU (3-5-1, 1-0-0) kept pressing in the second half and newcomer, Sarah Taubenheim, gave the Eagles a two-goal lead as her free kick in the middle, just outside the 18-yard mark, found the net in the 51st minute. Senior Acacia Johnson made it 3-0 and goal No. 6 for the season as she put a loose ball in front of the goal in for the score from six-yards out at 54:15.
NU outshot OIT (5-4, 0-1 CCC) 29-8 forcing Tech goalkeeper Rebekah Matteri to make nine saves in goal for the Owls. Patty Hughes earned the shutout for the Eagles making three saves in 90 minutes of play. Acacia Johnson led the Eagles with eight shots while Rachel Saleen had four shots for the game.
NU now travels west to Ashland to take on Southern Oregon in another conference game on Saturday at 10 a.m.
