The Lady Cougars (8-3-1), who are ranked fifth in the latest NAIA Region IX rankings, got on the scoreboard in the 17th minute when sophomore midfielder Erin Miller scored her third goal of the season to give MVNU a 1-0 lead. The play started with a corner kick by senior defender Stacy Robey (left) that went to senior forward Kristy Brandolini for a shot on goal. After the ball bounced around, Miller settled it and scored off the rebound.

The score remained 1-0 until the 57th minute when Brandolini set up the Lady Cougars’ second goal by beating a defender and then slipping a pass to freshman forward Jessica Estep, who one-timed a shot from four yards out to put MVNU in front 2-0. The goal was Estep’s team-leading ninth of the season, while Brandolini increased her team-best assist total to five on the year.

With 1:30 remaining in the match, junior midfielder Page Miller capped off the scoring and the 3-0 victory as she followed her own initial shot for her sixth goal of the season. Brandolini had a hand in this goal as her pass set up the first shot for Miller.

Freshman goalkeeper Jenessa Loewen (right) posted five saves to notch her third shutout of the season for MVNU as the Lady Cougars registered their fifth shutout overall. Emilie LaMarche registered seven saves for the Falcons (7-3-2), who entered the match ranked third in NAIA Region IX.

“This was a good team effort,” said MVNU head coach Jonathan Meade. “(Notre Dame) is a good team with good players, and our girls followed the defensive game plan for this match perfectly. This was probably the most balanced match we’ve had this season.”

“Kristy did a great job of creating all three of our scoring chances against a team that had allowed just four total goals in 11 previous matches coming into tonight,” Meade added. “She does a great job of making her teammates better around her. Challyn (Dobson) also did a nice job starting as a center midfielder. In addition, Jenessa earned her shutout tonight with some big saves in goal.”

The Lady Cougars will return to action on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. when MVNU will travel to the University of Rio Grande for an American Mideast Conference South Division match that will begin at 5:00 p.m.

“We took a step forward in our level of play tonight and we need to build off of this,” said Meade.