Sport in world

Westerwinds finish undefeated in Summit League play with 1-0 victory at Oral Roberts

December 1, 2007 on 10:00 pm | In Athletics |

Tulsa, Okla.- Bess Rapp scored the game-winning goal in the 36th minute to lead the Western Illinois women’s soccer team over Oral Roberts, 1-0, at ORU Soccer Complex.

The Westerwinds (15-2-1, 8-0-0 The Summit League) finish the regular season with a perfect record in the Summit League. The eight wins was a record high for any conference team in a single season since the conference picked up women’s soccer in 1999.

“It’s a nice accomplishment for the players, especially the seniors,” stated Western Illinois head coach Tony Guinn. “It’s difficult in any sport to run the table in conference play. The addition of the new teams made the conference a lot tougher.”

Rapp (Lincoln, Neb/Southeast) put Western Illinois on top in the 36th minute when she hit a shot that bounced off the right post and past Golden Eagles’ (8-8-3, 2-3-3) goalkeeper Stef Gurley. Fellow senior Misako Inaba (Kashiwa, Japan/Yachiyoshoin) was credited with the assist, her fourth of the season.

“The seniors have meant so much to this team,” said Guinn. “They have great leadership and an outstanding work rate and it showed on that goal. They have all the qualities you want in your leaders and those qualities are not easily replaced.”

The Westerwinds shutout Oral Roberts for their ninth shutout of the season, allowing the Golden Eagles just six shots on goal. Sophomore Meghan Tyk (Whitefish Bay, Wis./Whitefish Bay) and senior Julie Remes (Arden Hills, Minn./Totino Grace) split time in net for Western, combining for six saves.

Western Illinois won’t have to wait long to play Oral Roberts again as they draw them in the first round of the Summit League Championship. The Westerwinds enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed and the Golden Eagles will enter as the fourth seed.

“We’ll still have a normal week of practice,” Guinn said. “It helps that we just played Oral Roberts so that we can prepare for the conference tournament on things we saw from today.”

The Westerwinds first-round game of the Summit League Championship will be Friday, November 9, at OU Soccer Field on the campus of Oakland University.

Originaly from Source