From staff reports
Mountain State University put its best game of the season together Saturday, beating visiting Brescia (Ky.) University 3-0 at the YMCA soccer complex.
Erica Alderman nailed a hat trick while the Cougars’ defense recorded its first shutout.
MSU (2-3) had fallen by a 3-0 count to Milligan (Tenn.) Wednesday.
“It was a different team out there,” coach Kelly Borck said. “They didn’t go in scared and didn’t underestimate themselves.”
Brescia, a Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foe, downed the Cougars by the same 3-0 score last season.
Alderman matched that score with goals in the 16th, 42nd and 78th minutes, on assists from Nicole Gardner, Jessica Proudfoot and Ella Osborne.
Borck liked her team’s crisp play.
“We improved a lot on playing the feet,” Borck said. “Only one of the goals was on a through ball. On the others, Erica was able to turn and finish.”
Brescia (1-3) moved the ball well and took 12 shots on goal. MSU’s Christina Baker, the 2007 KIAC Goalkeeper of the Year, stopped all 12.
Freshman defender Brittany Nelson also had a big game.
“Brittany mixed things up in the middle and won a lot of balls out of the air,” Borck said. “But as a whole, the defense played great. They talked, and the corrections made a big difference today.”
MSU returns to action Tuesday with a 3 p.m. match at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio.
