UCO Tames Tigers

10/21/2011 7:11:00 PM

Miranda Thorne

Box Score

EDMOND (Oct. 21) – A rematch turned out to be no match Friday afternoon at sun-drenched Tom Thompson Field as No. 22-ranked Central Oklahoma hammered East Central 5-0 for its 12th straight victory.

The Bronchos pulled out a 1-0 win in Ada a month ago in the first meeting between the two teams, but UCO overwhelmed the Tigers this time around.

Ashton Morris had two goals and the Bronchos scored three times in a 15-minute span of the second half en route to their best offensive outing of the season, while the defense dominated once again.

It was the fifth straight shutout for UCO, which has outscored its last 12 opponents 33-3 in overcoming an 0-3 start to the season. The Bronchos will look to tie the school record for consecutive wins (13 in 2003) Sunday, traveling to Weatherford to take on Southwestern Oklahoma at 1 p.m.

“We've really grown and matured as a team and want to keep that going,” said head coach Mike Cook, who has his team in position to earn its eighth national tournament berth since 2000. “Every game from here on out is big for us. We want to win out and see where that puts us in the NCAA hunt.”

UCO got the only score it would need just 13:35 into the contest when Summer Grantham poked in a shot from point-blank range off Stephanie Fleig's corner kick and Morris got her first goal 30 minutes later to make it a 2-0 halftime advantage.

The senior forward knocked in a header from 15 feet out off a cross by Angie Rundle in the 44th minute and she scored again eight minutes into the second half. Morris did all the work on the second score, using some fancy footwork to dribble past two defenders before blasting a 15-yard shot past ECU's goalkeeper.

Brittni Walker upped the lead to 4-0 at the 62:51 mark when she flicked in a header off Fleig's long pass for her team-high ninth goal of the season and Sarah Purcell completed the scoring six minutes later with a rifle shot from 20 feet out after making a long run past the defense.

The Bronchos finished with an 18-11 shot advantage, getting 12 shots on goal. The majority of ECU's shots came in the final 20 minutes against UCO reserves, with goalkeeper Samantha Rusk making two nice saves down the stretch to preserve the shutout.

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