WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – Layne Hartnell scored one goal and assisted on the other in a 2-minute span early in the second half Thursday as the West Liberty University women's soccer team blanked Urbana, 2-0, at the West Liberty Soccer Complex.
    After an evenly-played first half, Coach Barry Christmas's Hilltoppers (2-4-0, 1-1-1) dominated the Blue Knights (2-4-0, 1-2-0) over the final 45 minutes.
    Hartnell wasted little time putting the Black and Gold on the board when play resumed as the senior forward ran onto a ball near midfield and outraced the Urbana back line before driving the ball into the lower left corner of the net in the 52^nd minute.
    Less than two minutes later, Hartnell threaded the needle with a perfectly-paced pass to Nikki Lolua inside the 18 and Lolua split a pair of defenders and ripped home the second goal of the match.
    "We thought we saw a potential advantage at halftime so we made a slight tactical change and the girls were able to capitalize on it," Christmas said. "Layne has a very good soccer brain which enables her to absorb coaching and apply it on the field. It was good to see a couple of balls in the net."
    There was no further scoring but the second half was all Hilltoppers as West Liberty outshot the visitors by a 10-1 margin over the final 45 minutes, finishing the match with a 12-3 edge in shots.
    "We have been generating a lot of chances all season but perhaps haven't been as clinical on the finish as we could have been," Christmas said. "I'd have been happy with any type of score but we told the girls it would eventually pay off and it did today. I thought both goals were well constructed and well taken and we really played with a lot of confidence in the second half."
    Lauren Hartnell, Layne's twin sister, picked up her second consecutive shutout by stopping all three of Urbana's shots on the day. Blue Knight keeper Katherine Beech finished with 5 saves.
    "We never want to get too high or too low but we're generating some positive momentum now," Christmas said. "This puts us at 1-1-1 in the conference plus we're still undefeated at home and still haven't conceded a goal at home. Now we can build on this and move on to the next challenge."
    The WLU women will be idle over the weekend but return to the West Liberty Soccer Complex on Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. match against Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit.
                      Urbana        0  0 – 0
West Liberty                                       0  2 – 2      WLU: Layne Hartnell (unassisted), 51:04
     WLU: Nicole Lolua (Layne Hartnell), 52:58      Shots: Urbana 3, West Liberty 12
     Saves: Urbana 5 (Katherine Beech 5), West Liberty 3 (Lauren Hartnell 3)
     Corners: Urbana 3, West Liberty 1
A: 130