With two shutouts this weekend, senior goalkeeper Libby Stout became the Sun Belt all-time leader in shutouts.

Stout now has four straight shutouts and WKU (10-5-1, 5-2-1 Sun Belt Conference) is riding a six-match unbeaten streak.

Even so, Head Coach Jason Neidell thought his team could play better over the weekend.

“It wasn’t pretty either night,” Neidell said. “Good teams find a way to win, and we found a way to win both nights. Conference is about finding a way to win and we gutted it out and found a way.”

Friday night, WKU battled a Louisiana-Monroe team who is last in the Sun Belt standings. 

Eight minutes into the game, senior forward Amanda Buechel scored her first goal since 2008 to give the team a 1-0 lead that they would hold onto all game.

“I give credit to ULM,” Neidell said. “Their backs were against the wall, and they battled 90 minutes. We were flat and were very fortunate to come away with a W today.”

Two days later, it took WKU a bit longer to find the back of the net. Senior forward Mallory Outerbridge re-entered the game toward the end and in the 86th minute was able to beat her defender and score the game-winning goal. 

“The whole weekend we weren’t in sync and didn’t click,” Neidell said. “The concentration wasn’t good enough. We need to be concentrated for longer periods of time. Mallory struggled a bit today, but she found a way to get it done for us.”

WKU played the games without two of its sophomore starters — midfielder Chrissy Tchoula and defender Katrina Ott. Tchoula had a blurry spot in her vision and Ott has concussion-like symptoms. Both are day-to-day injuries.

The Lady Toppers will be back in action at 6 p.m. Thursday against Troy at the WKU Soccer Complex.