After a scoreless first half in which the visiting Lady Panthers (13-2-0, 5-1-0 AMC South), who are ranked 10th in the latest NAIA poll, held a 9-8 edge in total shots, Estep got the Lady Cougars (11-4-1, 4-1-0 AMC South) on the scoreboard in the 61st minute. With Ohio Dominican goalie Krissie Sparks charging out from the goal to try to stop a breakaway, Estep took a pass from senior forward Kristy Brandolini (left) just past midfield and then fired a 40-yard shot past Sparks and into the net for a 1-0 lead.

Seven minutes later, Brandolini notched a goal of her own as she took a pass from senior defender Stacy Robey off a corner kick and dribbled through two defenders before ripping a shot that went off Sparks and scored to give MVNU a 2-0 advantage. The goal was Brandolini’s 11th of the season and the 67th of her career as she tied former Lady Cougar standout Catherine Hess for the all-time lead in that category.

Estep added her second goal of the match in the 69th minute when she took a pass out on the right flank from senior midfielder Jessica Pagano, dribbled through the defense, and ripped a shot from the right corner that went over Sparks, off the left post, and into the far side netting to extend the lead to 3-0.

Then, she closed out the scoring and her hat trick in the 15th minute when she took a pass from junior midfielder Page Miller and split the defense for the score to make it 4-0. The goal was her team-leading 17th of the season in just 15 matches. She also has scored 12 goals in just five conference matches.

The two teams each had 17 shots with MVNU holding a 12-5 advantage in shots on goal and a 5-1 edge in corner kicks. Freshman goalkeeper Jenessa Loewen stopped five shots in registering her fourth shutout and the team’s seventh shutout of the season. Sparks posted eight saves, but she allowed four goals in the match after allowing just five goals in the team’s previous 14 matches this season.

“Obviously, we are very happy with the win mainly because we had set goals for ourselves that included winning another conference title,” said MVNU head coach Jonathan Meade. “We needed to win this game in order to have a shot at that and it was really important to us. Having a great result against a very good team really makes you feel good, too. (Ohio Dominican) has had our number the last couple times, so it was nice to get that win today. Even though it was a 4-0 final, it was a close match and Ohio Dominican is a very good team and they have a lot of good soccer left in them.”

“I’m really happy for Jessica (Estep) (right) to get a hat trick today,” said Meade. “She worked really hard for those goals. I’m also happy for Kristy (Brandolini) to get the record-tying goal today. She made a great move on the end line and finished it off. We really continued to attack even after we got up by two goals. I’m really proud of the entire team and the way that everyone played today.”

“Our back line just played phenomenal today,” Meade added. “The fact that Nikki (Bruscino) was out with an injury and Denče (Stentz) came in and played 90 minutes and combined with Stacy (Robey) to do a wonderful job on Jen Burgei, who is a great player. Kelly (Sgambellone) and Angie (Misamore) continue to play at a really high level. Kelly’s done a great job in the transition in the back.”

“Our midfield did a good job and really challenged hard,” said Meade. “Challyn (Dobson) sometimes goes unnoticed but she does so many little things right. Page (Miller) obviously stands out because she plays so hard and runs through people and is so aggressive. The little things by Challyn, Jamie (Blair), and Erin (Miller) really made our midfield strong today.”

The Lady Cougars will take the weekend off and will then close out the season on Tuesday when MVNU will host Cedarville University in another AMC South Division match at 4:00 p.m. After dropping its first conference match this season, the Lady Cougars have won four straight conference contests and a win over Cedarville would give MVNU a share of the AMC South Division title with Ohio Dominican. At halftime, seniors Jessica Pagano, Molly Dible, Melissa Peters, Brandolini, Robey, and student assistant Stephanie Riley will be honored as they play their final regular-season home match.

“We are not through and there is still a lot to get done,” said Meade. “We’re happy about this match, but we need to finish things off against Cedarville. We need to make that our best match of the season. That’s what we are shooting for now - taking our game to an even higher level.”