INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Paige Newton scored a pair of goals to lead 20th-ranked Marian University past the University of Rio Grande, 3-0, Wednesday night, in non-conference women’s soccer action at St. Vincent Field.
The Knights improved to 6-2 with the victory, while also earning their fifth shutout of the season.
Rio Grande slipped to 1-5 overall with its fourth straight loss.
Marian netted what proved to be the only goal it would need just over 17 minutes into the match when Brittney Zendejas scored on a scramble for a loose ball following a corner kick opportunity.
Newton then added the first of her two markers with 11:08 left before the intermission when she eluded Rio junior goal keeper Andrea Vera (Quito, Ecuador) and fired a shot which deflected off the post and into the goal for a 2-0 advantage.
That’s how things stayed until Newton finished off the scoring with a header off a corner kick try by Courtney Denney with 21:28 left to play.
The Knights finished with a 19-8 edge in shots – including 11-3 in the second half – and had a 12-5 advantage in shots on goal. The hosts also had a 10-0 cushion in corner kick chances.
Vera finished with nine saves in a losing cause for the RedStorm.
Brenna Malatestinic stopped five shots in the win for Marian.
Rio Grande returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Goshen (Ind.) College in a non-conference game at Evan E. Davis Field. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Randy Payton is the Sports Information Director at the University of Rio Grande.
