Soccer seniors power Lady Toppers past Austin Peay

Austin Lanter

Coming off a shutout loss to Vanderbilt last week, WKU made sure it found the net this time around.

Senior forward Mallory Outerbridge and senior midfielders Kelsey Meyer and Lindsay Williams all scored to give the Lady Toppers a 3-1 win over Austin Peay Friday night in Clarksville, Tenn.

“I thought our finishing was pretty decent,” Head Coach Jason Neidell said. “We scored on our first shot so that was good. We just didn’t start off the game very strong because of our intensity and concentration level.”

Outerbridge scored the first goal for the Lady Toppers (3-1) in the 23rd minute mark on their first shot of the game. WKU added to its lead with seven minutes left in the first half when Williams connected on a penalty kick.

Austin Peay responded two minutes later off a header, cutting WKU’s lead to 2-1 at halftime.

After starting the game in one formation, Neidell made a change at halftime by taking a forward and moving her to the midfield. Neidell said he thought his team handled really well.

“It was a really seemless transition,” he said. “The kids did a good job with it. It was hard for Austin Peay because they were already chasing the game and then they had to try and solve the problem of us changing things tactically.”

Only seven minutes into the second half, Outerbridge added to her own point total when she assisted on a goal to Meyer in the six-yard box.

The Lady Toppers were able to connect on three of their 12 shots this game while holding Austin Peay to seven shots in the game — two in the second half.

With the win, WKU moved to 6-0 all time against Austin Peay.

Despite scoring three goals after being shutout last game, Neidell said he didn’t think his team played that much better.

“We just have got to figure out a way to be more consistent,” he said. “We played well for 35-40 minutes but a game lasts for 90 minutes.”

Intensity and concentration are two things that Neidell is stressing to his team in order for it to become more consistent. He said he sees consistency in some of the players, just not with the team as a whole.

“Some players are consistent from start to finish,” Neidell said. “That needs to be contagious. We have got to be better for longer stretches of time. Our intensity and level of concentration needs to be better for 90 minutes.”

WKU will take on No. 20 ranked Memphis at 1 p.m. Sunday at the WKU Soccer Complex.

“Hopefully they see this as a real opportunity to battle for 90 minutes,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to get better.”