Ferris State Soccer Lifts Senior Class To Decisive Win In Regular-Season Home Finale

Ferris State Soccer Lifts Senior Class To Decisive Win In Regular-Season Home Finale

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's soccer team gave its 2014 senior class an afternoon to remember as the Bulldogs rolled past Lake Erie by a 6-1 score in a key Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) contest Sunday (Oct. 19) at the FSU Soccer Field.

The victory came in FSU's final regular-season home tilt as the Bulldogs honored the quartet of midfielders Leanne Boehm, Taylor DiCicco and Riley Wood along with forward Stephanie Garland during the annual "Senior Day" activities.

The six goals scored by the Bulldogs in Sunday's victory were the program's most since registering an identical 6-1 road win at Ashland back in 2009 (9/13/09).

Ferris State wasted little time to jumping out to an early lead against the Storm as junior forward Casey Shauman tallied her team-leading ninth goal of the year only 9:07 into the contest on a shot just outside the box off a feed by Garland, who tallied the assist.

Garland added her second assist of the day in the 33rd minute of the opening half with a pass back to the middle for a deep shot by junior midfielder Abby Meirndorf. The goal from Meirndorf, which was her third of the campaign, gave FSU a 2-0 lead at the break.

Ferris State put the contest away early in the second half as the Bulldogs scored three goals in the opening five minutes of the frame to push the lead to 5-1 over the storm.

The first goal of the second half came at 46:46 as Meirndorf notched her second goal of the contest on a shot from the middle of the pitch off an assist by freshman Hilerie Schatzle

Schatzle followed with her first collegiate goal less than two minutes later at 48:20 when her shot from the center found the back of the net. It was assisted by Garland, who tallied her third point of the contest.

Junior forward Nichole Boehnke scored the third goal of the second 4:59 in on a header off a corner kick by Boehm, who received the assist in her final home contest.

FSU made it a six-goal lead in the 74th minute when junior defender Hunter Dolan notched her second goal of the year on an outside shot aided by fellow junior defender Lindsey Scott.

Lake Erie finally got on the board and avoided the shutout when Elizabeth Awuah picked up her first goal of the season on a shot near the net assisted by Kynslie Murphy at 76:06 of the second half.

From there, though, the Bulldogs put the match away while utilizing nearly every available player in uniform to record the win. The victory was a key one as FSU continued its quest for a fifth-straight GLIAC Tournament appearance.

Ferris State improved to 5-7-2 overall and evened its league record at 4-4-1 in the GLIAC with the triumph. Meanwhile, Lake Erie fell to 5-7-1 overall and 2-5-1 in league play.

The Bulldogs held a 21-9 advantage in total shots for the day and put 14 on goal compared to only seven for the Storm.

FSU also received an impressive performance in net from sophomore goalkeeper Savanna Wojtanowski, who totaled six saves while playing all 90 minutes.

On the opposite end of the field, Lake Erie's Sarah Stroope suffered the setback in goal despite making eight saves in going the distance.

Both teams finished with five corner kick chances while FSU had 14 fouls to four for the Storm.

The victory was FSU's third-straight in GLIAC play and third win overall in the Bulldogs' last four outings. It also represented Ferris State's second victory of the weekend on the heels of Friday's 4-2 home win over Ashland.

Overall, Ferris State has now won four-straight home contests at the FSU Soccer Field and finished with a 4-2-1 regular-season record in Big Rapids.

The Bulldogs will play their final three GLIAC regular-season contests on the road starting with a pair of matches in Michigan's Upper Peninsula this weekend. FSU first visits Michigan Tech on Friday (Oct. 24) for a 7 p.m. (ET) league tilt in Houghton and then faces Northern Michigan on Sunday (Oct. 26) beginning at 12 p.m. (ET) in Marquette.

With the two wins this weekend, FSU is currently tied for fifth in the league standings in terms of total conference wins with four to date. The top eight teams at the end of the year will advance to the postseason tournament.

This year's senior class has helped Ferris State to three-straight league tournaments, including back-to-back appearances in the semifinals the last two years.