Under the lights of Veterans Memorial Sports Complex on Wednesday Oct. 11, 2017, the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse Eagles soccer team shut out University of Wisconsin – Stout Blue Devils, 4-0. The Eagles improved to 11-1-2 (4-0-0 in WIAC) and extended their winning streak to six, while the Blue Devils fell to 4-5-3 (1-1-2 in WIAC).  

With this win, UWL recorded their tenth shutout victory of the year tying the single season record set in 1995, 2010 and 2016, according to uwlathletics.com. 

UWL scored once in the ninth minute and then again, in the eleventh minute. UWL Freshman Kaitlyn Villars started the night off scoring with a header in the ninth minute assisted by UWL Junior Margaret Harings and UWL Senior Hayley Stephens. This goal was Villars eighth which leads the Eagles this year.  

UWL Junior Alex Cording said, “I think Kaitlyn Villars goal was the most important. It was the first goal of the game and an early one. It kind of set the momentum for us.” 

The Eagles did not let up after this goal, Cording asserted herself into the score book with an unassisted goal in the eleventh minute after slashing around her defender and beating the goalkeeper one on one.  

The Eagles were unable to attain a third goal for the remainder of the half. “My team was feeling unsatisfied at halftime… we knew we could finish more chances in the second half and improve our play,” said Cording.  

The Eagles matched their goal total from the first half with another two goals in the second half. 

The first goal of the second half came off the head of UWL Senior Maddie Granos in the 74th minute with assists by UWL Freshman Tori Barnhart and Harings. 

Even after a 3-0 lead Cording said, “Our team never went into a “defensive mode”. Our focus was to go to goal while staying organized in the back. We are always looking to score regardless if we are up two, three or even four goals.” 

Four goals was exactly what the Eagles accomplished during the game. Granos assisted UWL Freshman Hayley Hargroder in scoring her first career collegiate goal in the 77th minute according the uwlathletics.com. 

The Eagles ended the night with 28 total shots with 14 on goal while the Blue Devils shot the ball 13 times with only four on goal.  

This past week, Cording was named UWL Athlete of the Week plus WIAC Offensive Player of the Week for her performance the week of Oct., 2, scoring three goals in in three games to go along with ten shots, five being on goal, according to uwlathletics.com.  

Regarding these accomplishments Cording said, “It feels great knowing hard work pays off. I am lucky to have a great program, coach, and teammates to play for!” 

The Eagles next home game will be Saturday Oct., 28 at 2pm against WIAC rival the University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh.