BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C.— The Montreat women's soccer team closed out its 2023 regular-season home slate Wednesday evening when it hosted the St. Andrews University Knights (1-12-1, 1-11-1 AAC) at Pulliam Stadium in Black Mountain, N.C. Behind a strong performance that featured five different goal scorers, the Cavaliers grabbed a decisive 5-0 Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) win and improved to 10-5-0 (9-4-0 AAC) in the process.
Montreat notched three goals in the opening half with all three tallies coming in the initial 19:21.
JJ Aalbue recorded the first strike just 9:54 into the frame, while
Kim Aalbue doubled the lead out to 2-0 merely 22 seconds later.
Sam Aalbue scored the final goal of the first half as the Cavs converted their on-field dominance to a 3-0 lead at the intermission.
Statistically, the initial frame proved even more one-sided than the scoreboard. Montreat owned a 19-1 edge in shots attempts, as well as 10-0 and 3-0 advantages in shots on goal and corner kicks, respectively.
Sofia Brotherton registered assists on the Cavaliers' latter two goals to set up both Kim and
Sam Aalbue.
The Cavs had no issue maintaining their superiority in the second half as they once again surrendered just a single shot attempt off target. Meanwhile, the Montreat offense found the back of the net twice more over the latter 45 minutes of play.
Olivia Ostwalt's fifth goal of season came 6:16 into the second frame off a feed from
Kim Aalbue, which extended the lead to 4-0. Fourteen minutes later,
Kylie Ridings scored the first goal of her Cavalier career, the final tally in Montreat's 5-0 triumph over St. Andrews. The victory, Montreat's 10
th of the year, marked the second time in the last three seasons in which the Cavs captured double-digit wins.
"I was extremely pleased with how the team got after it tonight," said head coach
Kristin Eggert. "We are in the driver's seat and can set ourselves up well for the postseason if we take this momentum into Saturday's match."
When the final whistle blew, the hosts owned substantial edges in shots (27-2), shots on goal (14-0) and corner kicks (5-0). Three of the Cavaliers' five goals included an assist, with Brotherton's two leading the way.
The Montreat women's soccer team heads to Bryan College on Saturday for its regular-season finale. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. in Dayton, Tenn.