SUPERIOR, Wis. – This season, the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference switched schedule formats, moving to a "double round robin" form of schedule, meaning all teams would play all conference opponents twice during the regular season.
 
For the Yellowjacket women's soccer team, Tuesday marked the first time it would see a team twice, as Northland College came to town. The two teams met earlier in the season, with the Yellowjackets picking up a 4-0 win in Ashland Sept. 18. It was a match where the score doesn't tell the entire story.
 
Tuesday's match was similar. The Yellowjackets spent the bulk of the 90 minutes firing away at the Northland goal in a truly dominating performance. But in the end the score was kept in check, as the Yellowjackets blanked Northland 3-0 at the NBC Spartan Sports Complex.
 
The win was the seventh in a row for the Yellowjackets (9-3-0, 7-0-0 UMAC), who would have won by a much larger margin if not for the play of Northland goalkeeper Elysabeth Lough. Lough was outstanding, particularly in the first half when she made a number of spectacular saves.

The opening half was all Yellowjackets, outshooting the LumberJills 23-1 and owning a 7-0 edge in shots on goal. Lough kept things scoreless in a half that didn't see the clock stop once.
 
Finally the Yellowjackets were able to break through and get on the board early in the second half. Annah Schussman (Bemidji, Minn./Bemidji) scored her sixth goal of the season, taking a throw in from Claire Smith (Hayward, Wis./Hayward) and sending a left foot shot into the lower left corner to make it 1-0 in the 51st minute of play.

The Yellowjackets got some insurance a few minutes later. This time Lindrey Schendel (Firestone, Colo./Skyline) scored unassisted, blasting a shot from about 20 yards out into the lower left corner for her first of the season in the 61st minute.

Then with just over a minute to play in the match the 'Jackets added another. Kenzie Oehlerking (Farmington, Minn./Farmington Area) forced a turnover in the middle of the field and hammered a right-foot shot into the upper half of the net for her first of the season. The unassisted tally made the final score 3-0.
 
It was a cleanly played match, featuring just four total fouls and zero cards.
 
The Yellowjackets held a 36-6 edge in shots attempted, and had 14 shots on goal to just two for Northland.
 
Morgan Philliber (Apple Valley, Minn./Edina) got the start in goal for the Yellowjackets and earned the victory, improving to 2-1-0 on the year. She made two saves to pick up her first individual shutout of the season. For the Yellowjackets as a team, it was their sixth shutout through a dozen contests.
 
Up next for the Yellowjackets is a road trip to New Ulm, Minn. and a date with Martin Luther. The two teams met in Superior Sept. 25, a match the Yellowjackets won 3-0. The Yellowjackets have won the last two matches, but Martin Luther owns an 8-5 advantage in the all-time series. The opening kick is set for 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 15.