One record wasn’t enough for senior forward Mallory Outerbridge — she wanted records.
Outerbridge scored in the 60th minute of the 1-0 win over Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday to become WKU’s all-time leader in goals after already becoming the leader in points earlier in the year.
She and fellow senior goalkeeper Libby Stout were honored before Sunday’s game against Arkansas State for their achievements this year. Earlier in the year, Stout became WKU’s all-time leader in wins.
“It just shows hard work,” Outerbridge said. “It’s a team award obviously. I can’t score unless I have the ball, and they’re giving me the ball, so it’s a team award.”
Outerbridge wasted no time against Arkansas State just two days later by adding two more goals to her career total
Her second proved to be the game winner in the Lady Toppers’ 3-2 win.
Stout, however, didn’t play in Sunday’s game against Arkansas State after suffering an injury in the last few seconds of Friday night’s game. Head Coach Jason Neidell said it was a muscle pull and that she is day-to-day.
But Sunday’s award ceremony was a fitting cap to a successful weekend for the Lady Toppers.
On Friday night, WKU outshot Arkansas-Little Rock 20-2 en route to a 1-0 win.
Senior midfielder Kelsey Meyer passed the ball to Outerbridge who cut in and was able to slide the ball past the keeper.
“I think that we started a little slow. We couldn’t find the net,” Outerbridge said. “You know 20 shots and only one goal, that just needs to be better. The second half was definitely better. We came out a lot faster. We were playing the ball better and we got a goal.”
Two days later, WKU had stiffer competition.
The Lady Toppers outshot Arkansas State 11-2 in the first half, but couldn’t convert. Just 30 seconds into the second half, Arkansas State scored on only its third shot of the game to take a 1-0 lead.
Less than seven minutes later, sophomore midfielder Chrissy Tchoula scored off an assist from senior midfielder Lindsay Williams tying the game 1-1.
“It just feels really good,” Tchoula said. “I’ve been struggling in practice and in games so it feels good to actually convert and be a positive effect on this team.”
Arkansas State retook the lead with 28 minutes left after a shot hit the post and rebounded to another player, who was able to score on the open goal.
With less than five minutes left, Outerbridge received a through ball, beat the keeper and passed the ball into the back of the net to tie the game 2-2.
Neidell was pleased with his team after fighting back from a one-goal deficit twice in the game to take the game into overtime.
“It shows a lot of fortitude and character,” he said. “I was really proud of the way we fought back.”
After one period of overtime, the teams were still knotted at two.
With five minutes left in the second period, Outerbridge struck again.
Junior midfielder Christen Sims crossed the ball in and Outerbridge finished it from about six yards out.
Outerbridge’s record-setting weekend helped lead WKU to two home victories to bring the Lady Toppers back to .500 in conference play.
“It (the wins) was really significant because both the teams we played were ahead of us in the standings going into the weekend,” Neidell said. “Now we’ve climbed up the ladder.”
The Lady Toppers have two more home games this weekend against Florida International at 6 p.m. Friday and Florida Atlantic at 1 p.m. Sunday.
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