Junior Annie Wayland and sophomore Diana Puckett knocked in two goals apiece as the Illinois State soccer team shutout Southwest Missouri State, 4-0, Sunday afternoon at Cooper Sports Complex.
We came out really hard and strong in the first half, head coach Pete Kowall said. We dominated the first half and thats what won the game today.
The win pushes the Birds to 7-3 overall and 3-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference while SMS drops to 6-4-1, 1-1 in the Valley.
Ten minutes into the game, Wayland connected on a pass from Dana Schulte to give the Birds the early lead.
At the 29:26 mark, Puckett drove a pass from Tiffany DeClark past SMS goalkeeper Alexis Stormo. Less than one minute later, Puckett knocked in her second goal of the game, her third of the season.
The score stood at 3-0 with four minutes left when Wayland punched in a penalty kick, her eighth goal of the season.
Lynley Hilligoss notched her third shutout of the season between the posts, collecting two saves. The Bears could only manage two shots on goal the entire afternoon while Illinois State had 21 of their 26 shots on goal.
We did the things we struggled a bit to do in the games we lost, Kowall added. We finished things off right away.
Illinois State returns to Adelaide Street Field Friday afternoon for a 4 p.m. meeting with Creighton.
