McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) ---
Dina Der Vartanian (Sierra Madre, Calif., Alverno HS) scored one goal and assisted on another as the McPherson College women's soccer team shut out Bethel College, 2-0, Saturday afternoon in a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) contest at McPherson Stadium.
The Bulldogs (5-4, 2-2 KCAC) wasted little time getting on the board against the Threshers (3-7, 0-4 KCAC) as DerVartanian threaded a pass into the 18-yard box that found the foot of
Juliana Munoz (Antelope, Calif., American River College). Munoz then beat Bethel goalkeeper Kyla Williams with a shot that found the lower right-hand corner of the goal.
McPherson dominated possession in the first half, racking up 10 shots to none for Bethel, but could not get another goal on the board before the break.
The insurance goal came in the 66th minute as
Lacy Fry (Severance, Colo., Windsor HS) played a long service into the offensive zone that cleared the Bethel defensive backline. On a full sprint, DerVartanian caught up to the ball and fired a shot from the top of the 18 that shot past Williams to her right.
The Bulldogs finished with a 15-3 advantage in shots overall and a 5-0 edge in shots on goal. McPherson also had four corner kicks to Bethel's one.
DerVartanian and Munoz each had four shots, while
Danielle Kakebeen (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., San Bernardino Valley College) had three.
The McPherson backline was effective in keeping
Christie Silber (Simi Valley, Calif., Simi Valley HS) out of the fray. Silber wasn't credited with any saves, but she did provide a challenge to the few cross attempts managed by the Threshers en route to her fifth clean sheet of the season.
Kacie Torrens, Maddie McDaniel and Araeleigha Heysquierdo-Marcy each had one shot for Bethel.
"I was very pleased with the way we started the game today," said head coach
Mark Olson. "We had more energy and some quality passing from the get-go that led to a nice goal by Juliana. We tried several new things and adapted very well to the changes we made considering we have not had much time to practice. I was very pleased with Dina today as she had her first goal of the year and added an assist."
McPherson returns to the pitch Wednesday evening when Ottawa University pays a visit to McPherson Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 5 p.m. The Braves (8-2-1, 3-1 KCAC) are currently ranked 16th nationally and are on a three-match winning streak after falling to current No. 15 Oklahoma Wesleyan to open KCAC play. Ottawa sits alone in second place on the KCAC table behind OKWU, while McPherson is alone in seventh. The Bulldogs are one-half game out of a tie for third with just over one-third of the KCAC slate behind them.
