SENATOBIA - A scoreless first half gave way to a strong second half for No. 1 Northwest on Tuesday afternoon, as the Lady Rangers earned a 4-0 victory against 11th-ranked Pearl River.
Northwest saw two of its four goals come from freshman
Caroline Hamm, while
Emma Jensen provided the Lady Rangers' first goal. Sophomore
Penny Warner put the icing on the cake with roughly three minutes remaining, netting her fifth score of the season.
Similar to the rest of the season, Northwest once again provided an aggressive offensive attack out of the gate, but the shots just didn't connect. The closest attempt the Lady Rangers had to a goal in the first half came off the foot of
Lillie Grace McCutchen, but an offsides call negated the score.
Later in the opening half, Pearl River went on the offensive and despite only firing off three first half shots, the Lady Wildcats had plenty of chances to break the scoreless draw. With neither team able to break through, the score remained 0-0 at the halftime break.
From the opening whistle of the second half, it was clear that Northwest was a whole different team. The Lady Rangers opened things off with back-to-back shot attempts, turning up the heat on the Pearl River defense right away.
Finally, Jensen broke through in the 51st minute, as her put-back off
Mari Julia Delgado's previous shot attempt gave Northwest the 1-0 lead. Just minutes later, Jensen crossed one over into the box to Hamm, who made it a 2-0 lead in the 54th minute.
Less than 10 minutes later, Hamm struck again off yet another assist from Jensen. The third goal made it a 3-0 lead for the Lady Rangers in the 62nd minute, firmly giving Northwest control.
Warner capped off the match with a goal in the 88th minute, thanks to an assist from freshman
Allie Kimbrell.
Northwest finished with 24 total shots, including 13 on-goal. Pearl River was held to just seven total shots on the evening, with five coming on-goal.
Anna Kathryn Harrell posted yet another shutout for the Lady Rangers, improving to 8-0 on the season. The Tupelo native also recorded her 23rd career shutout and the second this year against an MACCC opponent.
Northwest finished 8-3 in corner kicks, with seven coming in the second half. Both teams were whistled for a combined 22 fouls, including 14 against the Lady Rangers. However, no cautions or ejections were given to either team.
With the win, Northwest improved to 8-0 overall and 3-0 in the MACCC, while Pearl River dropped to 3-2-1 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. The Lady Rangers will now turn their attention to another nationally-ranked matchup on Friday, September 27 at No. 20 Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Northwest holds a narrow 10-9 advantage in the all-time series against Mississippi Gulf Coast, and the Lady Rangers picked up a 4-0 win against MGCCC in last year's regular season meeting.
