Henson Earns 100th Career Victory As Bulldogs Top Eagles In Windy Battle

Postgame Interview & Highlights 

Big Rapids, Mich. - The Ferris State University women's soccer team fended off both flurries from the sky and the Ashland Eagles in a 2-1 victory in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) play on Sunday (March 28) at the South Athletic Complex.

Ferris State Head Coach Greg Henson earned his 100th career victory as a women's collegiate soccer head coach on the day while junior Emily Mergener drilled in the eventual game-winning tally late in the first half for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs struck first at 28:51 of the first half when Ferris State junior Grace VerHage turned on a ball that rattled off the crossbar. Bulldog senior Mackenzie Dawes attacked the rebound and fired a shot top-shelf that went off the hand of Ashland goalkeeper Hannah Lee for a 1-0 Bulldog lead. Dawes picked up her first goal of the year on the play.

Later, off of a throw-in deep in the offensive end, junior Nikki May managed to find Mergener low in the box. Mergener curled a hard shot to the top right corner, just past the outstretched fingers of Lee for a 2-0 Bulldog lead at 33:47 of the opening period.

The contest, played in a stiff wind that blew directly North to South with on-and-off sleet, flipped in the second half. With the wind at the Eagles' back, Ashland cut the ead to 2-1 when Mackenzie Kelly beat Ferris State junior goalkeeper Taryn Meiste for her second goal of the year.

Ferris State managed to wind out the clock to top the Eagles and improve to 4-0-0, good for first-place alone atop the GLIAC.

On the day, Meiste made six stops, her most so far this season. Lee made one leaping stop on Ferris State senior Abigail Gilmore in the first half for her only save of the game.

The Eagles had a 14-8 shot attempts advantage with a 6-3 shots on goal lead on the day. The Eagles had an 11-2 advantage in shot attempts with the wind in the second half while Ferris State had a 6-3 margin in the first. Both teams attempted two corner kicks. The Eagles had five fouls to seven for the Bulldogs. Both sides racked up a yellow card on the day.

The first-place Bulldogs will put their record to the test against the Davenport Panthers on Thursday (April 1) in GLIAC action in Big Rapids starting at 4 p.m. (ET).