BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— At Pulliam Stadium Wednesday afternoon, the Montreat women's soccer team turned in a dominant performance to notch its first Appalachian Athletic Conference triumph of the season, defeating the St. Andrews University Knights by a score of 5-1.
 
The Cavs struck early and often in the contest, collecting the opening tally off the foot of Isabel Aguilar in only the seventh minute. Zoe Frenier sent a ball down the left wing that was cut back by Jackie Montes to an awaiting Aguilar, who found the far side of the net from the top of the box to break the deadlock.
 
Twelve minutes later, Hayden Bunn put the ball into the side netting on an intelligent team play. Aguilar played a through ball intended initially for Montes; however, Montes smartly let the ball go as she sensed herself in an offside position. Bunn used her speed to get on the end of the pass and double Montreat's advantage.
 
In the 30^th minute, Montes utilized another outstanding thought to make it 3-0. The Fort Meade, Florida native stopped on a dime and eluded the SAU keeper, who fouled Montes in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick. On the ensuing penalty, Montes buried her shot upper 90 to give the Cavaliers a three-goal lead heading into halftime.
 
At the half, Montreat controlled possession, dominating the shot count 13-5 and corners, 6-0.
 
A mere 2:07 into the second frame, Montes added her second helper of the evening. After intercepting a Knights' goal kick, she threaded a pass to a sprinting Frenier, who sent her shot screaming past the goalkeeper and into the net.
 
Though SAU (0-3, 0-2 AAC) scored to cut their deficit to three with half an hour to go in the match, Montes finished her four-point night with her second goal of the game. Kaitlyn Adams and Aguilar linked up in the midfield before Aguilar launched a ball over the top of the St. Andrews defense to Montes. The freshman calmly settled the pass and slotted home her team-high fourth goal of the year to complete the four-goal victory and seal the Cavaliers' first conference win of 2021.
 
"It was really important for us to get after it coming into this game after the loss to Truett and we did just that," said head coach Kristin Eggert. "We put the ball in the back of the net, moved the ball well in possession and stayed disciplined defensively so all-in-all it was a pretty complete performance."
 
With the triumph, Montreat moved to 2-1 (1-1 AAC) on the season. Women's soccer now travels to Bryan College for a matchup with the Lions on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:00 p.m.