The Concord University women's soccer team earned three points in the Mountain East Conference with a 3-0 victory over Urbana on Thursday afternoon at Anderson Field.
Concord improves to 3-1-2 (2-1-1 MEC), while Urbana falls to 2-3 overall (1-2 MEC).
Concord stemmed off two early attempts by Urbana's Taylor Greene in the opening ten minutes as goalkeeper
Emily Simpkins made two saves early on to preserve the shutout for the Mountain Lions.
In the 27
th minute, Concord earned a free kick from about 25 yards from goal. Sophomore midfielder
Sarah Akers stepped up and fired home a powerful free kick to open the scoring for the Mountain Lions.
CU continued to mount the pressure on the Blue Knights, with two more shots from senior midfielder
Kari Simon and junior midfielder
Margot Provencher coming in quick succession after the first goal. Simon doubled Concord's lead quickly afterwards in the 30
th minute after freshman forward
Pilar Elias darted through the middle of the field before finding Simon on the right side of the penalty area. Simon slotted the ball at the near post to give Concord the 2-0 lead.
Concord managed to withstand early pressure from Urbana to start the second half, as Urbana took four shots in the opening five minutes, including two corner kicks over that time span. Concord then managed to force two saves from Urbana goalkeeper Taylor Gianageli in response.
Simon then managed to extend Concord's lead in the 77
th minute after another blistering free kick from Akers rattled the crossbar and bounced around the penalty area. Simon was on hand to put the ball in the back of the net for her 6
th tally of the season.
Urbana managed to outshoot the Mountain Lions, 15-14 in total shots, but Concord held the edge in shots on goal 8-7. Simpkins made seven saves for CU, and has now registered three shutouts in six games this season.
Concord now looks to continue their run of positive form when they travel to Buckhannon to face West Virginia Wesleyan. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
