FULTON, MO. -- In their final conference game of the season, the Panthers beat Westminster 7-1 to solidify the first place seed for the conference tournament. Westminster started out strong and had some opportunities in the beginning, however, once the Panthers got into their groove there was no stopping them. It was probably the best possession game the Panthers have had; there was great movement off the ball.
Rachel Publicover in particular had an awesome game, scoring four of the seven goals and getting one assist. She started the scoring in the 26th minute of the first half off of her corner kick. A minute later, she showed great composure as she went one on one with the Westminster keeper after receiving a pass from teammate
Lauren Furbush to put the Panthers up 2-0. A few minutes later, Publicover passed to teammate
Kristen Crandall to tally the score 3-0. With about 10 minutes left in the half,
Alicia Girbes-Pierce crossed the ball into the box to find Publicover who scored her final goal of the half before coming out.
Hayley Cooke ended the scoring in the first half after getting a pass from Girbes-Pierce to put the Panthers up 5-0 at half.
In the second half, the Panthers moved the ball around very well, connecting one-two touch passes. In the 48th minute, Furbush laid a through ball to
Lauren Wienecke who scored what was to be the final goal of the game. However, due to a breakdown in the Panther defense, Westminster scored off of a one on one with the Panther's keeper,
Murilla King, which put them on the scoreboard 6-1. The Panthers responded with another goal by Publicover off of another through ball by Furbush to end the scoring at 7-1. Westminster had another opportunity to score but was stopped by
Carlie Sanderude and King.
This game has put the Panthers 8-0 in Conference with an overall record of 13-5. The lunch pail was awarded to Sanderude for her hard play and control in the backline. The golden boot was awarded to Publicover who scored four of the seven goals and got one assist. It wasn't that Publicover was in the right spot at the right time to get so many goals tonight. It was because she was making the runs to create the right spot.
The Panthers play again at home this Saturday against Division II Maryville University at 1:00 PM.
