Huskers Come Alive in Second Half to Down Bearcats, 4-1Huskers Come Alive in Second Half to Down Bearcats, 4-1
Soccer

Huskers Come Alive in Second Half to Down Bearcats, 4-1

Box Score

Lincoln - The Nebraska soccer team, which moved to 2-0 for the first time since 2005, used three goals in a 15-minute span to take control of the match and defeat the Cincinnati Bearcats by a 4-1 margin on a warm Sunday afternoon at the Nebraska Soccer Field.

The Huskers fell behind early, as Cincinnati struck first at the 12:59 mark of the first half when Mackenzie Grause picked up a favorable bounce off a deflection and beat NU goalkeeper Emma Stevens one-on-one from the top of the box. That would be the only goal Stevens allowed, as Nebraska allowed only two shots on goal in posting the victory.

Nebraska fired 14 shots in the first half, including five on goal but were unable to enter the scoring column. The Huskers would continue to put pressure on Cincinnati (0-2) in the second half. NU got its offense rolling in the 54th minute when senior Stacy Bartels received a through ball pass from Caroline Flynn to score from 12 yards out, knotting up the contest at 1-1.

Nine minutes later, freshman Sydney Miramontez earned her first-career goal as a Husker after settling a cross from Hannah Dittmar to give NU its first lead of the match with 62:28 on the clock.

Freshman Jaycie Johnson made it three goals in 15 minutes for the Huskers when she was awarded a penalty shot after a mistimed tackle by the Bearcat defender. Johnson beat Cincinnati goalkeeper Kristina Utley to the left side giving NU a 3-1 advantage with 22 minutes remaining. The goal was Johnson's third of the year in just her second collegiate match. 

In the 86th minute of action, Katie Kraeutner helped finish off the scoring with a nicely-executed deep crossing pass from the left side to Sam Areman, who headed the ball in from close range for the 4-1 lead.

Nebraska recorded 30 shot attempts and 14 shots on goal for the second consecutive match, while the Bearcats had 11 shots, but just two on goal.  Seven different Huskers recorded shots on goal in the contest, including Jordan Jackson who led with six, while Johnson posted three on net.

John Walker's squad will hit the road starting next weekend with a match-up against BYU, an Elite Eight qualifier from 2012. The Huskers and Cougars will meet at 8 p.m. (Central) on Saturday, Aug. 31 in Provo.