Miami, OK
It was a shocking start for the Lady Mavs when after having 2 clear options to go up in the scoreboard at only 5 mins of the first half it was NEO that scored first after a long ball that found their forward (Ashia Butler) and beat Monica Davis for the 1-0. This would be the only chance for NEO in the entire game. The Lady Mavs out-shot their opponent 21-2 with 17 shots on goal against only one from NEO.
NEO goalkeeper had a busy afternoon recording 8 saves for only 1 from Jo Mcray.
Coach Castillo sent his team to an attack as always and to try to dominate their rivals with high pressure and dynamic futbol. It was until late in the first half when Rachel Brantley took a ball outside the 18 yard box and shot it leaving NEO's keeper with no chance to stop what would be the equalizer at the moment.
In second half the story didn't change and Northern kept knocking on NEO's goal over and over until again Rachel Brantley at 59 minutes put the ball in the back of the net after a great assist from the left flank by Gifty Ayew Asare. Just less than 2 minutes again Asare would press a defender that played the ball back to the keeper and Kayla Mireles pressed her to get a rebound that ended in the back of the net at the 61:50 minute mark and move the scoreboard to 1-3. This is Mireles's 5th goal of the season. Megan Deshazo was very active as well and recorded 3 shots on goal. But before the game was over Gifty Ayew Asare would record her 9th goal of the season after dribbling the ball through a defender and beat the goalkeeper with a powerful shot at the 87:14 mark. Stacey Herbert and Daisy Brown recorded their first minutes in a conference game this season.
Assistan Coach Lauren Robb thoughts on the game: "I think the girls got caught up on their heels early with the quick goal from NEO. It took us a little bit to settle down and start playing our way but once the girls figured it out we dominated the first half and finally started putting some goals together in the second half."
With this win Northern moves to 7-1 (3-0) and will host Eastern Oklahoma State 1-6 (0-2) on Sunday at 2PM.
Numbers: The Lady Mavs accumulated a total of 17 corner kicks versus 1 from NEO.
Starting XI: Monica Davis, Kariss Dunson, Aubrey Welker, Marybel Garcia, Morgan Medina, Rebekah Brantley, Rachel Brantley, Mayra Vega, Gifty Ayew Asare, Megan Deshazo and Kayla Mireles.