Three Second Half Goals Spark Yellowjackets to 3-1 Victory at Central Washington

Box Score

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Montana State Billings women’s soccer player, Jaucelyn Richter, showed no ill effects of an injury that sidelined her last weekend as she scored two goals including the game winner in a 3-1 come-from-behind win at Central Washington Thursday afternoon.  With the win, MSUB improved to 4-2-1 overall and 1-0 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  CWU fell to 3-5 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

“We are very pleased to come on the road in the first conference game and get the win,” head coach Don Trentham said.  “In the first half CWU had the run of play, but I felt we weathered the storm and came out in the second half and took the game to them.”

Richter tallied two of three goals in a matter of just over 10 minutes in the second half as the Yellowjackets erased a 1-0 lead by CWU.  Samantha Sandau scored the equalizer at the 71 minute mark as she took a cross from Kelly Ross for the score.

“Our first goal was a great one as Kelly (Ross) had a good run down the left flank and put a great pass to Sammy (Sandau) for the score and really changed the momentum for us,” Trentham added.  

Two minutes and 38 seconds later, Richter scored her first of two goals as she scored off a cross from Sandau for a 2-1 lead.  Richter then added the insurance goal in the 81st minute on breakaway for a 3-1 score.  Richter now leads the team with five goals on the season.

“It was nice to see Jaucelyn come back after being hurt last weekend and giving us some breathing room with her two goals,” Trentham said.  “It was good to see her back in action.”

Central Washington opened the scoring in the 54th minute (53:45) as Amy Pate scored on a cross from Monique Cornier to Serena Tomaso.  It was Pate’s first goal of the year.  The goal snapped a 248-minute scoreless streak for the Yellowjackets dating back to last weekend in a 1-1 tie at the University of Mary and a 4-0 win versus Minnesota-Crookston.

The teams went into half tied 0-0 as CWU held an 8-1 lead in shots for the first half.  MSUB goalkeeper, Jordan Fenwick, made two first half saves.  Amber Easterbrook had one first half save.

Despite being outshot, 16-6 and 6-5 in shots on goal for the game, the Yellowjackets made the most of their opportunities offensively.  On the defensive end, Fenwick and made two second half saves that keyed to the comeback and preserved the victory.  She had four saves for the game and lowered her goals against average to 1.21 for the year. 

Richter led the team with four shots and three on goal with two scores in her first GNAC contest.  She left the Mary game early last weekend with an injury and missed the Minnesota-Crookston game last Sunday.  Sandau had a goal and an assist with one shot on goal.  Ross added her third point of the season with an assist.

It was the first win for MSUB at Central Washington in school history as the Yellowjackets were 0-7 coming in.  MSUB now is 3-8 against the Wildcats all-time.

“Again, the character of this team was solid today after we got outplayed in the first half a bit, but we came back in the second half and found a way to get the win,” Trentham added.

MSUB now travels to Northwest Nazarene Saturday at 12 p.m., to conclude the games for the week.  It will be the fourth consecutive game away from home for the Yellowjackets as they are in the midst of a season-long, six-game road swing.  MSUB is 2-0-1 on the current road trip.

The Yellowjackets head to Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon next week, before returning to Yellowjacket Field on Oct. 3 versus Central Washington in a doubleheader with the men’s team for Futbol Frenzy.  Game time versus the Wildcats is scheduled for 1 p.m., followed by the men’s game against Northwest Nazarene at 3:30 p.m.