WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's soccer team launched a school-record 43 shots in a dominating performance here Wednesday as the Black and Gold continued its late-season surge with a 3-0 shutout of Glenville State at the West Liberty Soccer Complex.
    Coach Barry Christmas's Hilltoppers (5-8-3, 5-5-2), who have already clinched an MEC Tournament berth, improved to 3-1-1 in their last five matches while keeping the Pioneers (0-17-0, 0-13-0) first-year program winless on the season.
    West Liberty opened the scoring in the 22nd minute when Jordan Smith hammered a drive from 25 yards out that caromed off the chest of Glenville State keeper Hannah Beaty and into the net.
    Layne Hartnell, the Hilltoppers' leading scorer on the season, pounded the final nails into the Pioneers' coffin a few minutes later when she scored back-to-back goals in less than 90 seconds.
    The senior forward made it 2-0 in the 32nd minute when she took a feed from Kaylee Hilliard inside the 18 and banged it home off the bottom of the crossbar.
    Hartnell scored her sixth goal of the season in the 33rd minute, finishing off an assist from Kaelyn Oskin for a 3-0 WLU advantage.
    Although Christmas substituted freely throughout the match, the Hilltoppers were able to keep play in the Pioneers' end of the pitch for the majority of the game.
    West Liberty outshot Glenville by a whopping 43-3 margin and a 23-1 advantage in shots on goal. The hosts also earned a season-high 16 corner kicks to none for the Pioneers.
    Beaty was able to keep things from getting completely out of hand for Glenville by coming up with 20 saves. Olivia Montgomery and Kaitlyn Taylor shared the shutout in goal for the Hilltoppers with Taylor being credited with the only save.
    West Liberty closes out the regular season on Saturday with a 4 p.m. match at Wheeling Jesuit.
    Glenville State                                    0  0 – 0
West Liberty                                       3  0 – 3      WLU: Jordan Smith (unassisted), 22:00
     WLU: Layne Hartnell (Kaylee Hilliard), 31:27
     WLU: Layne Hartnell (Kaelyn Oskin), 32:48      Shots: Glenville State 3, West Liberty 43
     Shots on Goal: Glenville State 1, West Liberty 23
     Saves: Glenville State 20 (Hannah Beaty 20), West Liberty 1 (Olivia Montgomery 0, Kaitlyn Taylor 1)
     Corners: Glenville State 0, West Liberty 16
A: 140