Women's Soccer | 10/14/2013 8:00:00 AM
Box Score URBANA, Ohio – The resurgent West Liberty University women's soccer team moved into a fourth-place tie in the Mountain East Conference standings here Sunday afternoon with a 1-0 revenge win against Urbana University on the Blue Knights' home pitch.
Urbana had handed WLU a 3-2 loss in West Liberty on Sept. 15.
Sunday's win was the second straight for Coach Barry Christmas's Hilltoppers (4-7-1, 3-5-1), who have notched three wins and a tie in their last five games to rise up the conference ladder.
West Liberty now sits in a three-way tie with Urbana (3-8-1, 3-5-1) and Charleston (5-6-1, 3-5-1) for the fourth and final playoff berth in the MEC's inaugural season.
A stiff defense combined with an opportunistic offense has been the formula for WLU's recent success and Sunday's win was no exception.
Following a scoreless opening half, the Hilltoppers were pressuring the Blue Knights' goal when they lost possession in the box.
That turned out to be a blessing in disguise when a poor clearing attempt by the hosts caromed wildly off a West Liberty player right to the foot of WLU's Courtney Webb, who deposited the point-blank shot into the net in the 54th minute for the only goal of the game.
Hilltopper keeper Rachel Coles kept Urbana off the board with a diving save against Taylor Elliott in the 71st minute and the Hilltoppers survived a couple of late Blue Knight corner kicks to salt away the win.
West Liberty finished the day with a 14-12 advantage in shots while Coles was charted with five saves to earn the shutout.
The Hilltoppers head south on Wednesday for a 2 p.m. match at Concord.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
West Liberty 1, Urbana 0
West Liberty 0 1 – 1
Urbana 0 0 – 0
Second Half
Game Statistics
Shots: West Liberty 14, Urbana 12
Saves: West Liberty 5 (Rachel Coles 5), Urbana 5 (Taylor Gianangeli 5)
Corners: West Liberty 1, Urbana 9
A: 312
