JACKSON, Miss. - Western Illinois women's soccer (4-1-0) sees its win streak to four matches with a 2-0 victory over Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent Jackson State (0-5-0) on Monday (September 3). It was the squad's second shutout in 24 hours.
In the first half, the Leathernecks took 18 shots to Jackson State's six but could not find the back of the net. The scoring drought ended in the 56th minute of the match when Amber Davis knocked one in off of a Kellie Julius corner kick. It was Davis' first goal of the season.
Skyler Jessop added another goal for Western in the 75th minute for her second of the 2012 season. Hannah Van Eendenburg picked up her first assist of the season on the play.
The Leatherneck defense stayed strong keeping the Lady Tigers from attempting a shot in the second half altogether. Keeper Laura Atkinson started the match and made two saves in her 80 minutes and Victoria Kappel came in to close out the final ten minutes for a combined shutout.
"We under-performed in the first half and were careless with the ball and careless with scoring opportunities," head coach Ted Flogaites said. "I have to do a better job of getting us ready to play from the outset. We were spirited and far more clinical in the second half and the lethargic tackling from the first half was no more. The squad gets, deserves and merits full credit for playing two matches in less than 24 hours and getting two results. The little things in the attacking third need finer sharpness and we will look to improve upon that aspect in training."
Out of Western's 42 total shots, 20 were on goal. Miranda Graham took a squad high four and was followed by Davis with three. Kayse Flostrand, Taylor Henning and Jessop each took two, while Chrissy Campbell, Abby Davis, Sarah Hall, Julius, Sloane Levin, Gina Scaffidi and Sarah Wright took one apiece.
The Fighting Leathernecks are back in action on Friday (September 7) at Grand View in Des Moines, Iowa. The match is slated to begin at 7 p.m.
