BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Grace's women's soccer team fired off 50 shots in a 2-0 win over Hannibal-LaGrange on Friday.
The NAIA 15th-ranked Lady Lancers (4-0) maintained their unblemished defensive record to start the year and have now played 360 minutes without surrendering a goal.
Playing against a decidedly defensive unit, the Lady Lancers took advantage by pressuring the Trojans' goal early and often. Grace took 22 shots in the first half, including nine shots on goal.
Kaitlyn Hayes broke onto the scoreboard first in the 22nd minute, scoring off an assist by freshman Shelby Fort.
Despite an incredible 22-1 advantage in shots in the first period, Grace led 1-0 at halftime.
Grace ramped up its offense even more in the second half, tallying 28 shots and six corner kicks over the final 45 minutes.
Lightning struck with 23 minutes left in the match, causing a 30-minute delay. But the delay did little to slow Grace's onslaught. The Spartans (0-2-1) gave up a second goal in the final 10 seconds of the match. Faith Voehringer assisted Carianne Sobey at the 89:50 mark for the final tally of the contest.
"This was an interesting day for us. Hannibal decided to bunker down and withstand the storm, but our women were good at maintaining composure and staying the course," said Grace head coach Michael Voss. "Numerous players got good time, and we maintained chemistry. It's difficult to be patient and persistent against that type of game plan, but I'm proud of the effort our women gave tonight."
Statistically, Grace was dominant in all aspects of the match. The Lady Lancers owned 50 of the 52 shot attempts in the game, all 17 shots on goal and all 10 corner kicks.
Coach Voss used 24 players in the match with 15 players tallying a shot attempt. Mallory Rondeau led all players with eight shots, and Sobey took six shots. Meredith Hollar and Kristen Bellinger fired six shots apiece, and Heather Martin added two more.
Abby Schue earned her fourth shutout in goal for the year without having to make a save in 90 minutes of action.
The Lady Lancers continue action at Olivet Nazarene on Saturday with another neutral-field contest against Missouri Baptist at 5 p.m.
