ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Eight goals in two matches was the story for No. 3 Northwest this week, as the Lady Rangers swept the competition in St. Louis.

Northwest defeated 12th-ranked St. Louis by a 7-1 final on Wednesday, before turning around on Thursday to edge No. 16 Southwestern Illinois in a tight 1-0 battle.

In the blowout victory against the Archers, the Lady Rangers got back-to-back goals from Mari Julia Delgado to open the match. Delgado then followed with an assist on Hudson Lindsay's goal in the 30th minute, pushing Northwest to a 3-0 lead.

Avery Hooker then closed out the first half with a quick goal, assisted by Lindsay. Northwest went into the halftime break up 4-0.

Alexandria "Penny" Warner opened the second half on a strong note, scoring back-to-back goals for the Lady Rangers. In the 71st minute, Northwest finally surrendered its first goal of the season, thanks to a shot from Rebecca Rheinheimer that got the Archers on the board.

However, the Lady Rangers would get one final score late in the match, as Emma Wilson fired in a shot unassisted to help punctuate the win for Northwest.

Lindsay accounted for a pair of assists, while Brandy Hernandez and Yaritza Trejo also contributed one assist each. Goalkeeper Anna Kathryn Harrell stopped all three of the shot attempts for St. Louis.

In the Thursday victory against Southwestern Illinois, both teams went toe-to-toe in what proved to be the toughest match of the season so far for Northwest. Despite the tenacity from the two teams, the Lady Rangers managed to gain the upper hand on the Blue Storm late in the first half, thanks to another goal from Delgado in the 39th minute. Warner provided the assist.

Northwest out-shot Southwestern Illinois 27-11, with Harrell stopping a season-high 11 saves. 

With both wins, Northwest moved to 5-0 on the season. The Lady Rangers will finally play on the home pitch on Sunday, September 10 against Mineral Area College at 1 P.M. Read Full Article