In the 60th minute of Friday night’s match between WKU and the Arkansas-Little Rock, a new WKU record was set.

On an assist from senior midfielder Kelsey Meyer, senior forward Mallory Outerbridge found the net to become the leading goal scorer in WKU history.

The goal proved to be the difference in the game as WKU (6-5, 1-0) won 1-0 to end a three-game losing streak and earn their first Sun Belt Conference win.

“It was pretty cool,” Head Coach Jason Neidell said of Outerbridge’s goal. “We didn’t set it up to sub her out when she scored. It was just a coincidence. It was good to see her get the goal and get a standing ovation from the crowd.”

Outerbridge, however, was focused on the game as a whole, not the record-setting goal.

“A goal is a goal and a win’s a win,” she said. “Playing in front of the home fans, it’s great. I think it’s great in all basically.”

WKU was able to get a lot more going offensively on Friday night, getting off 20 shots on the night compared to 10 shots from the past two games combined.

Neidell said offense was something that he stressed this week in practice, and although it was improved from last weekend, there are still improvements that need to be made.

“We created more chances tonight, but if you look at the box score it wasn’t a bunch of great chances,” he said. “I think we only had like six shots on goal, so we have to get that productivity up. I think we have to be a lot more aggressive in the box as well.”

Outerbridge agreed.

“The last two games against Denver and North Texas we only had a few shots,” she said. “All week in practice he (Neidell) was like, ‘get to the end line, get a cross, get a shot, just do all that’ and that’s what we did tonight.

“You know, 20 shots, it’s huge. We’ve just got to work on finishing now.”

Coming into the game, WKU was 0-2 in the Sun Belt and ranked last in the conference. Because of that, Neidell said that Friday’s game was a must-win situation.

“It was absolutely crucial,” he said. “We had to win tonight. Our backs were up against the wall. We were in last place. The only way to get out of last place is to win.”

Not only were the Lady Toppers able to get 20 shots off on goal, but they only allowed just two on the night.

Outerbridge attributed the the Lady Toppers’ recent struggles to the level of competition they have played recently and saidit was really good for the team to get back on track Friday night.

“Jason (Neidell) always says, and it goes for every college team, that a team hits a wall at some point in the season,” Outerbridge said. “Sometimes it’s later, which is unfortunate, but sometimes it’s earlier. In our case I think we’ve hit our wall a little early, which is fine with us. Now it’s just on the up. I think it’s good that way.”

The Lady Toppers will play again at 1 p.m. Sunday against Arkansas State at the WKU Soccer Complex.