Freshman midfielder Courtney Ricker (left), who was making just her third start of the season, got the scoring under way for the Lady Cougars (7-5-1, 5-2-1 AMC) when she gathered a loose ball that the defense failed to clear and fired a shot into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead in the 19th minute. It was the first goal of Ricker’s college career.

In the 37th minute, sophomore forward Jessica Estep increased the lead to 2-0 when senior midfielder Erin Miller laid off a pass to her that she fired home for her team-leading 10th goal of the season.

The score remained that way until the start of the second half when Ricker needed just 22 seconds to score her second goal of the match as MVNU took the second-half kickoff and scored with Estep registering an assist on the play as the Lady Cougars took a 3-0 lead.

Less than a minute later, the lead grew to 4-0 when sophomore midfielder Jamie Blair scored her first career goal off a corner kick by Miller. For Miller, it was her second assist of the match and her team-leading seventh of the year.

Estep notched her second goal of the match and her 11th of the season in the 64th minute when she took a pass from junior midfielder Nikki Bruscino and scored to increase the lead to 5-0. The goal was also the 33rd goal of Estep’s career in 35 career matches as she currently ranks fifth in MVNU history in that category.

Junior defender Mara Hughes closed out the scoring in the 72nd minute when she headed in a corner kick by freshman defender Heidi Moeckel for a 6-0 advantage. It was the fourth goal of the year for Hughes and the first career assist for Moeckel.

Sophomore Jenessa Loewen and freshman Courtney Ball combined to post the Lady Cougars’ fourth straight shutout and fifth of the season overall as they did not have to make a save. Loewen also extended her scoreless streak to 413:58. Meanwhile, Emily Tomalewski and Liz Velez combined to stop nine shots for the Lady Pioneers (4-6-3, 1-5-2 AMC). MVNU had a commanding 27-0 advantage in total shots, a 15-0 edge in shots on goal, and an 8-0 margin in corner kicks.

“It was nice to pick up another three points (in conference play) with the win and also to get everyone into the match,” said MVNU coach Jonathan Meade. “It is always nice to do those things and get everyone more game experience. As we come down to the later stages of the season, you never know when a player is going to get their number called and they are going to need to be ready and game-fit and have that experience.”

“I was proud of the way we came out in the second half and put things away quickly,” Meade added. “We did not drag things on. Overall, I’m happy with the way that we took care of business today.”

The Lady Cougars will now have six days to prepare for their next match at Ohio Dominican University on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. That AMC contest will pit the two teams who shared the AMC South Division title last year against each other.