ABILENE - Abilene Christian soccer enjoyed its first offensive breakout match of the season Friday afternoon, scoring five times on 53 shots against the Panthers of Prairie View A&M (0-3) at Elmer Gray Stadium.
The five goals are tied for the third most in school history and most scored by the Wildcats (1-3-1) in a single match since beating Lamar last October, 6-2. Additionally, ACU's 53 shots rank second all-time to the 61 taken in the program opener nine years ago on this very date when the Wildcats beat the College of the Southwest, 14-0. ACU placed 29 shots on goal vs. Southwest that afternoon and put 26 on frame today as Panther goalkeeper Brooke Merino made 21 saves.
Senior
Natalie Throneberry led the ACU offense with two goals on 10 shots, four of which were saved, in becoming the first Wildcat since
Baylee Mitchell in 2014 with a multi-goal performance. Throneberry scored her first goal of the season in the 33rd minute, firing a 16-yard blast over the head of Merino from the corner, and in the 67th minute she one-timed a cross from defender
Peyton Bucklew for the 10th goal of her career that put ACU ahead 3-0.
Throneberry played 70 minutes and continued to receive quality chances to join the elusive hat-trick club, which consists of four Wildcats: Denise Morgan, Lyndsey Womack, Ashley Holton and Andrea Carpenter, who registered a pair of hat tricks within a three-week span during her magical freshman year of 2010.
Despite the comfortable lead on the scoreboard, the Wildcats continue to press and made it a 4-0 game in the 77th minute on senior
Alyssa Gerner's 25-yard laser that skimmed the underneath of the crossbar. And in the 83rd minute, sophomore
Dylan Owens punched back the rebound after Merino stopped her penalty kick.
Chelsea Reedy also scored for the Wildcats, forcing a turnover off a Panther throw-in in the 50th minute and striking a 20-yard shot over the outreached hands of Merino.
Defensively, the Wildcats held the Panthers to five shots, two of which reached redshirt freshman goalkeeper
Rachel Johnson, who was credited with the win and her first career shutout. Johnson had to wait until the 53rd minute to make her first save.
ACU went into the break ahead 27-1 in shots and finished with a 53-5 advantage. The Wildcats also attempted 11 corner kicks with six coming in the second hafl.
The Wildcats return to action Sunday for a 1 p.m. match at No. 15 Texas Tech that kicks off a four-game road trip that also includes dates with Oklahoma State, SMU and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
