Coyotes beat Summit League newcomer St. Thomas 4-0
The USD women’s soccer team played their first Summit League game Friday night where they also had the opportunity to be the first Summit League team to welcome conference newcomer St. Thomas.
St. Thomas came into the matchup with a 2-5-1 record, coming off a loss against Idaho 2-3 Sept. 18. The Coyotes came into the game with a 5-1-2 record and rode a four-game winning streak after beating the Iowa State Cyclones 1-0 at home Sept 19.
The Coyotes shut out the Tommies 4-0. The Coyotes moved their winning streak to five games and stay undefeated at home this season with a 5-0 record at First Bank and Trust Soccer Complex.
In the first half, senior forward Tiannah Moore opened the scoring with an unassisted goal at the nine-minute mark of the contest.
Moore scored again at the 34-minute mark in the first half. She put the ball in the net off a through-ball from fifth-year senior forward Maddison Sullivan.
The Coyotes went into half-time with a 2-0 lead.
In the second half of play, the Coyotes’ momentum continued as both a team and for Moore.
Moore started the second half by putting another ball in the net at the 54-minute mark, with Sullivan assisting. Moore’s three goals were her first of the season, and led to her getting her first career hat trick and the fifteenth in Coyote history.
The scoring did not stop there as Moore had another opportunity to score but was fouled by one of the Tommies inside the box, leading to a penalty shot. The shot was taken by captain and fifth-year senior forward Alexis Mitchell, who put it in the back of the net to make the score 4-0.
Mitchell’s goal was her third on the year, which is now tied for the most on the team with Moore. Mitchell has also scored in back-to-back games where she scored the only goal against Iowa State.
With Sullivan’s two assists, she now leads the team with four on the season.
The Coyotes also led in every statistical category in the game, which included USD’s 14 shots compared to the Tommies’ nine.
USD’s fifth-year senior goalie Emma Harkleroad had five saves for the night, stopping every shot that came her way.
With this win, the Coyotes move on to a record of 6-1-2 and with a Summit League record of 1-0-0.
The Coyotes played another game over the weekend. On Sunday, USD played the Western Illinois Leathernecks where they lost 2-1 making their record 6-2-2 and their Summit League record 1-1-0
The next game for the Coyotes is against the the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles at Tulsa Oklahoma Oct. 8.
