WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's soccer team dominated the second half here Wednesday night, racing off to a 4-2 victory against Ohio County rival Wheeling under the lights at the West Family Complex.
    The win enabled Coach Barry Christmas's Hilltoppers (2-5-1, 2-2-1) to leapfrog past Urbana and Notre Dame into sole possession of third place in the MEC North Division while the scrappy Cardinals (0-7-0, 0-4-0) remained winless on the year.
    Jordan Smith gave West Liberty an early lead when she finished off an assist from Kaylee Hilliard for a goal in the 12th minute but Wheeling equalized on a Micah Miller penalty kick in the 19th minute and the teams were still deadlocked, 1-1, at intermission.
    "Give Wheeling credit," Christmas said. "They came out with great energy and intensity at the start and we were on our heels a bit. I thought we got better as play went on and, even though we didn't score, the last 15 minutes of the first half was very good for us. I really didn't want to see it end."
    The shots that didn't find the cage for the Black and Gold in the first 45 minutes soon began mounting up on the scoreboard as the WLU women picked up right where they had left off.
    Katie Kota put the hosts ahead to stay with a 20-yard laser from outside the box on the right wing in the 52nd minute and Caitlin deVries made it 3-1 Hilltoppers when she hammered home a drive from the top of the box in the 62nd minute.
    The prettiest goal of the night came in the 77th minute when West Liberty's won possession in her half of the field, speed-dribbled up the left wing, deked her way around a Cardinal defender and scorched a drive into the top right corner of the cage for an insurmountable 4-1 lead.
    Wheeling's Braedynn Porter tacked on a consolation goal in the 87th minute.
    West Liberty's four goals tied the school's single-game record, set in 2014 against Concord and tied during the 2015 season in a match against Urbana, but Christmas was more focused on his current squad than the record book.
    "To be honest, I don't pay much attention to records," Christmas said. "but it's a good thing for our players to see the ball going into the net. The last three goals were all great individual strikes and we had several other chances, probably better ones, that didn't find the net so we can build on this."
    West Liberty outshot Wheeling by an 18-14 margin with WLU keeper Olivia Montgomery picking up 4 saves. Cardinal netminder Mikayla Yarwood turned aside 6 Hilltopper shots in a losing cause.
    The Black and Gold head to South Euclid, Ohio on Sunday for a key MEC North Division matchup against Notre Dame. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.
    Wheeling                              1  1 – 2
West Liberty                        1  3 – 4      WLU: Jordan Smith (Kaylee Hilliard), 11:03
     WU: Micah Miller (Penalty kick), 18:33      WLU: Katie Kota (unassisted), 51:20
     WLU: Caitlin deVries (unassisted), 61:35
     WLU: Zayne Brakeall (unassisted), 76:16
     WU: Braedynn Porter (Micah Miller), 86:11      Shots: Wheeling 14, West Liberty 18
     Saves: Wheeling 6 (Mikayla Yarwood 6), West Liberty 4 (Olivia Montgomery 4)
     Corners: Wheeling 2, West Liberty 3
A: 168