Stephen F. Austin
Sam Houston State
SFA Blasts 'Kats
10/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Oct. 16, 2009
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NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Megan Cash scored three goals and assisted on a fourth to lead Stephen F. Austin to a dominant 6-0 win over Sam Houston State Friday night at the SFA Soccer Complex. The win moved SFA (7-7-0, 4-1-0) into a tie for third place in the Southland Conference standings.
The Ladyjacks took control early with a pair of first-half goals then poured it on in the second period to collect their second-largest margin of victory of the year. With the loss, Sam Houston falls to 5-7-2 overall with a 3-2-0 record against league competition. The Bearkats came into Friday's contest tied with SFA for fourth place in the conference.
"The team played very well," SFA head coach George Van Linder said. "We were worried at half. Being up, 2-0, we knew we had to get a third goal to put the game out of reach. I was so happy that they got it so early in the second half."
That third goal came off the foot of freshman Laura Sadler barely three minutes into the second period, with Cash and frosh Becky Johnson assisting on the play. Johnson made a run down the left sideline and played the ball toward the corner for Cash. The senior turned it back inside and crossed it to Sadler who found the net with a low shot to the far post from eight yards out. The goal was Sadler's fifth of the season.
SFA's first goal came in the 21st minute, when junior Kim Kimmel scored the first of her two goals. Sophomore Brittany Nelson started the play with a nice pass forward out of the midfield. The ball found Kimmel's feet, and she turned to face the goal. After a quick move to get free, Kimmel fired a low shot past the goalkeeper's left for her fifth goal of the season.
Ten minutes later, Cash got her first goal of the night with Sadler and Kylie Louw assisting on the play. Louw dribbled toward the center of the field from the right side and found Sadler in the box. Sadler quickly turned and flicked a pass out to Cash on the left side. Cash squared up and delivered a low shot to the far post to give the Ladyjacks a 2-0 advantage.
SFA went to halftime with an 8-1 advantage in shots and a 7-0 edge in corner kick attempts.
After Sadler pushed the advantage to 3-0 in the early minutes of the second half, the rout was on. Cash scored her second and third goals of the night in the 54th and 55th minutes to put the game away, then Kimmel polished off the scoring with her sixth goal of the season in the 61st minute.
Cash's first goal of the second half came in an almost empty net on a rebounded shot off Louw's foot. Louw had taken aim from the right half of the 18-yard box, and her shot caromed off a diving Jenny Pence to the left side, where Cash was streaking in to clean it up. The play gave Louw her first multi-assist game of the season, but the freshman from South Africa wasn't done yet.
She tied an SFA record with her third assist of the game less than a minute later when she streaked into the Sam Houston defensive third then slipped a pass out to the left for Cash, who tucked a low shot inside the far post to finish off the play.
The sequence netted Cash her second career hat trick and just the 10th in program history and made Louw only the third Ladyjack ever to record three assists in a single game. The feat was last achieved in 2001 by Christie Mestayer. For the game, Cash finished with seven points, tying her for third on the SFA single-game record list.
Six minutes later, Kimmel dribbled in from the left side and fired a shot off a Sam Houston defender and in to set the final score and mark her first career multi-goal game. The double dib gives Kimmel six goals for the year, tying her with Cash for the team lead. Thanks to her eight assists this season, Louw leads all Ladyjacks with 16 points.
The Bearkats upped their shot output in the second half with eight attempts but were still out-shot, 18-9, for the game. SFA finished with a 14-5 edge in shots on goal and lined up nine corner kicks without surrendering one to the opposition. Ladyjack goalkeeper Courtney Bauder (6-6-0) finished with five saves to record her third solo shutout of the season.
SFA's next scheduled game is Friday, Oct. 23, at Texas State. The Bobcats currently lead the Southland with a 5-0-0 league record.
-- SFA --
