Senior Aspen Carpenter scored a goal and added a pair of helpers, all in the first half, and the No. 24 John Brown University women's soccer team took advantage of set plays to advance to the Sooner Athletic Conference tournament semifinals on Friday night with a 5-0 win over Central Christian (Kan.) at Alumni Field.
The fourth-seeded Golden Eagles (14-3-1) piled up a 15-0 advantage in corner kicks, and scored on three services, while the defense held the Tigers (11-8-0) to just two shots on target.
The victory places JBU on the road on Monday. The Golden Eagles will have to travel to Fort Worth to take on top-seeded Texas Wesleyan for the second time this season.
Carpenter was the recipient of a broken and fortunate play 25 minutes in when junior Kristen Howell's shot was blocked by a Central Christian defender. Luckily, the ball's momentum carried it over the defenders back, and Carpenter slid in behind the defense and volleyed a shot past Tiger keeper Charis Ball to tally her seventh goal overall and second-game winner of the season.
While the visitors played a stoic defense for the first quarter of the match, the momentum began to build after Carpenter's strike. Six minutes later, the floodgates opened.
Carpenter served a ball in from the corner that took a carom off a Central Christian defender at the back post, and senior Melody Hagen tapped in her second of the season near the goal line, extending JBU's lead to 2-0.
Forty-five seconds later, senior Anna Brown started a combination play up the right side the found Carpenter, who turned and fed sophomore Sienna Nealon up top. Nealon burned past her defender and let a shot go from 10 yards that rolled off the far left post and in for her seventh of the season.
Building off a 17-0 shooting advantage at the half, John Brown continued the barrage in the second, this time constructing a 16-2 shot margin.
The Tigers' Keely King took over goalkeeping duties from Ball in the second half, and a miscue cost Central Christian dearly.
Junior Kathryn Huff's corner kick landed in the box and King deflected the ball into her own goal, extending the Central Christian deficit to 4-0 in the 65th minute.
Not done scoring, senior Jastin Redman headed in her team-leading 10th of the season with just over 10 minutes left to play off another Huff service into the box.
Sophomore Caitlyn Logan need to make just one save to secure her 11th shutout of the season.
Sports on 11/04/2018