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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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It was a cleanly played match, featuring just four total fouls and zero cards.
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The Yellowjackets held a 36-6 edge in shots attempted, and had 14 shots on goal to just two for Northland.
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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.
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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.
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