CCU women's soccer spent their Labor Day morning earning a win, defeating Wayne State College 3-1 at Trailblazer Stadium. Each team was winless coming into the game as the Cougars drew, and the Wildcats lost in their respective matches against the Montana State University-Billings Yellowjackets this weekend. The Cougars victory was based largely on their success playing set pieces, with two of their three goal coming from corner kicks, and multiple challenging chances coming from free kicks.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Cougars controlled the ball for the majority of the game and started off strong, wasting no time and scoring the opening goal in the 18^th minute. The goal came after the Cougars earned their first corner kick of the day, which was punched out by the WSC keeper, but not far enough. Stephanie Muchow tracked the punched ball and whipped her head around on it for her first goal of the year.
 
In the 39^th minute, Renee De La Torre set up for another corner kick and placed it so well, she didn't get an assist, but rather a goal. Her offering curled up and over the head of a Wildcat defender and past the outstretched hand of the Wayne State keeper to score. The Wildcats would put one goal away just before halftime to cut the Cougar lead to 2-1 during the break.
 
The second was a similar show with the Cougars controlling much of the action. CCU didn't wait long to add to their scoring total. In the 47^th minute of the match Stephanie Muchow played a through ball to teammate Sophie Kern who touched the ball over the keeper for what would end up being the final goal of the game.
 
QUOTEABLES: When asked to reflect on her stellar offensive day, Stephanie Muchow said, "It set's a standard to do it every game. That is coaches standard for me, she always tells me, 'Be dangerous.'" And when asked what being unbeaten so far in the season means for the teams upcoming road trip, Muchow answered, "It's a confidence booster for sure, and it sets another standard. Knowing that we were ranked 11^th out of 14 [in the conference preseason poll], we have a job to do to prove them wrong."
 
Head coach Tammy McPherson added her thoughts on being unbeaten thus far saying, "We wanted to go to California undefeated, but I also told the team that as a program our fans see our talent and expect us to win, and I know all of us expect that too. Our goal is to create a culture of elite physical athletes expectant to win." Coach McPherson expanded on her challenge for Muchow as well, to be dangerous, "She does a great job making different runs to put herself in dangerous attacking positions, which creates opportunities for her to find the pocket of space to pull the trigger. Steph forces defenders to have to make decisions and figure things out in the run of play." 
 
GAME LEADERS: Stephanie Muchow lead all players with three points by way of a goal and an assist today, and was joined on the stat sheet by teammates Renee De La Torre and Sophie Kern who each netted their first goals of the season. The Cougars led the match in most categories, outshooting the Wildcats 13-5 (7-3), and earning nine corner kicks to Wayne State's three.
 
UP NEXT: The Cougars will attempt to start their season undefeated through three games for the first time since 2014 when they travel to Southern California to take on the Toro's from California State University, Dominguez Hills on Friday the 7^th, game time is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. MDT.