Howell's hattrick delivers lopsided 5-0 victory over City
SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. -- Freshman Kristen Howell netted the 13th hattrick in program history and sophomore Aspen Robinson added a pair of goals to lead No. 20 John Brown University past Oklahoma City, 5-0, on Tuesday (Oct. 4) evening at Alumni Field.
The Golden Eagles (9-1-1, 1-0-0 SAC) maintained its lead in the Sooner Athletic, out-shooting City (3-7-1, 1-2-0) by a 26-2 margin, including 17-0 in the second half. It was the largest margin of victory by JBU over the Stars in the two programs' history, dating back to 2002.
Sophomore Jastin Redman added a pair of assists while freshman Katherine Haar and junior Samantha Weber each tallied helpers in the win.
Robinson netted her team-leading 10th and 11th strikes of the season, taking over the scoring lead in the Sooner Athletic. Senior Kristen Morency made one save for her program-best 32nd clean sheet of her career.
Howell scored the game winner just 45 seconds into the contest after Redman's flick over the City back linke broke Howell into a one-on-one with OCU keeper Kirsten Thomas. Howell chipped a shot over Thomas to hand the visitors a quick 1-0 advantage.
Just eight minutes later Howell continued her career-best outing when Redman again fed her across the top of the 18. Starting at the left side of the box and crossed to the right, Redman's ball skipped over the City back line into a perfect running lane for Howell. Again in a one-on-one with Thomas, Howell chipped a shot over Thomas and to the left side of the goal, adding the Golden Eagle insurance marker.
To cap off a half highlighted by a 9-2 shooting advantage, Robinson tripled the host's lead when she finished off a centering pass from freshman Katherine Haar from seven yards out in the 25th minute.
The shot of the afternoon came in the 55th minute as Robinson benefitted from a City tunover and rocketed a 25 yard blast from the top of the box. The ball hit the underside of the crossbar, bounced straight down, and straight back up under the netting for a 4-0 JBU advantage.
Howell's hattrick was finally completed in the 85th minute as a result of Weber's cross from the right flank. While a Stars defender was trying to corral the ball, Howell crashed the net and struck the bouncing ball past Thomas.
JBU returns to action on Saturday (Oct. 8) when it welcomes St. Gregory's (Okla.) for a 1 p.m. bout.
