COLLIERVILLE, Tenn. - For most of Tuesday's match, neither Northwest or Southwest Tennessee could get a goal on the board.
However, just one 10-minute span was all the 13th-ranked Lady Rangers needed to separate themselves from the competition, as Northwest pulled out the 4-0 shutout and season sweep of the Lady Saluqis.
Northwest rested most of its usual starters for the first half, but the reserves still did their job, gradually wearing down the opponents while outshooting Southwest Tennessee by an 8-0 margin.
Scoreless after the first 45 minutes, things quickly changed in favor of the Lady Rangers, as
Jennifer Enriquez connected with
Katie Archer on a header less than two minutes into the second half.
Just over two minutes later,
Ally Bailey found
Melinda Hernandez for the freshman's fourth goal of the season, giving Northwest a 2-0 advantage in the 50th minute.
Three minutes later, the Lady Rangers struck once again, this time on a deflection from Enriquez, which bounced off the keeper and onto the waiting foot of
MJ Loeffel. The goal marked the 13th score of the season for the Eads, Tenn. native, as the match score moved to a 3-0 advantage.
Northwest would deliver its final blow in the 55th minute, as Enriquez notched her third assist of the match and 13th of the season on a feed to Archer, who netted her second career goal and made it a 4-0 lead.
Despite being kept off the board for the final 35 minutes of the contest, Northwest had several looks to keep adding to its lead. In all, the Lady Rangers finished with 36 total shots, 28 coming in the second half.
Northwest also finished with 23 shots on goal, while limiting Southwest Tennessee to just one total shot, which came late in the match.
Freshman goalkeeper
Addy McCann earned her second career win, allowing no goals and finishing with a late save. Itzel Balanzar totaled 19 saves for Southwest Tennessee, while allowing all four goals.
With the victory, Northwest ran its season record to 9-1 overall, as Southwest Tennessee fell to 1-6. The Lady Rangers will continue their non-division slate on Friday, October 1 with a 12 P.M. road match at Copiah-Lincoln.
