VILLEGAS SCORES TWICE AS WILDCATS BLANK MSU BILLINGS
Central Tallies Three in Second Half to Earn Season Series Split BILLINGS, Mont. (Oct. 3) -- Freshman
Kelsy Villegas (Graham/Graham-Kapowsin HS) scored her first two collegiate goals to help lead Central Washington to a 3-0 women's soccer victory over host Montana State Billings on Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats improved to 4-6-1 overall and 1-2-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Montana State Billings fell to 6-4-1 and 3-2-0 in GNAC action.
After the two teams played to a scoreless first half, Villegas took a centering pass from fellow freshman
Carson McKole (Oak Harbor) and beat MSUB keeper Jordan Fenwick for her first goal of the season at the 54th minute for a 1-0 Wildcat lead. Junior
Kaycie Hutchins (Port Orchard/Bellarmine Prep) then added to the advantage less than five minutes later with her second goal of the season -- an unassisted tally -- beating a pair of defenders and finding the corner of the net from 22 yards out.
Central's final tally of the match, which was scored by Villegas, was set up by sophomore
Amy Pate (Federal Way/Thomas Jefferson HS) as Pate left the ball for Villegas, who beat Fenwick with a backdoor tally at the 75th minute.
"We struggled a bit early, but made some nice adjustments in the second half," said CWU head coach
Michael Farrand. "We were able to get a couple of early goals (after the intermission) and it turned out to be a very nice game for us."
While the Wildcat offense turned in its second-highest goal output of the season, Central's defense did well to keep the Yellowjackets off the scoreboard. Senior
Amber Easterbrook (Kent/Kentwood HS) posted her third shutout of the season (and the 18th of her career) by making five saves between the pipes for CWU, which salvaged a split of the season series with MSU Billings after suffering a 3-1 loss at home on Sept. 17.
"Our defense played well and got us another shutout," Farrand continued. "It was nice to get a bit of payback (after losing to MSUB at home)."
Central Washington finished with a 10-9 edge in shots, including 9-8 in the second half. Villegas had three of the Wildcats' shot attempts, while sophomore
Miranda Heslep (Bellingham/Meridian HS) was credited with two shots in a reserve role.
After playing nine of its first 11 matches of the season on the road, Central Washington opens a four-match home stand next Thursday (Oct. 8) against Western Oregon at 3 p.m. The Wildcats will also host Northwest Nazarene (Oct. 10), Western Washington (Oct. 14), and Saint Martin's (Oct. 17) before their next away match on Oct. 24.
BOX SCORE: Central Washington 3, Montana State Billings 1
