Five Goal Second Half Pushes Huskies Past Lake Erie

• Box Score

PAINSVILLE, Ohio – Following a first half that saw neither team post a goal, the Michigan Tech soccer team erupted for five of them in the second half to notch a 5-0 Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victory at Lake Erie College Friday afternoon. The Huskies extended their winning streak to three games and remain unbeaten on the road this season.

"We had a good game and great second half to get goals from four different people," Michigan Tech Head Coach Michelle Jacob said. "We created a lot of good opportunities and had some great crosses and through balls and the girls kept after it the entire match. In the first half we created some chances, but weren't able to put the ball in the net. However, we came out on fire in the second half and capitalized on our scoring opportunities. Our defense was solid again and I thought we did a great job of playing possession when we needed to and attacking when we needed to."

Michigan Tech (9-2-1, 5-1-1 GLIAC) went on the attack early and unloaded four shots within the first 11 minutes of the contest. Junior Taylor Archibald took two of them, forcing goalie Marissa Brannon to make a save in the eighth minute. The blasts by the Huskies would be four of the 10 shots take by Tech in the opening 45 minutes. When the horn sounded to end the first period, the Huskies had a 10-1 advantage in shots and forced five saves by Brannon to keep the score at 0-0.

Michigan Tech's persistence paid off in the second half with two quick goals within the first six minutes. Senior Jaci Mielke picked up a deflected ball and slipped a shot past Brannon to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the 48^th minute. It would prove to be the first of two goals for Mielke in the match, giving her seven on the season and four game winners to her credit.

Archibald extended the Tech lead to 2-0 just over three minutes later by finding space for a shot three yards away from the net. Senior Megan Armstrong setup the attempt with a beautiful pass through a handful of defenders and was rewarded with her first assist of the 2016 season.

Riding a wave of momentum, the Huskies offense continued to fire on all cylinders. Sophomore Andrea Zubke recorded her first career collegiate goal in the 70^th minute to make it a 3-0 lead followed by Mielke's second goal of the match 18 seconds later. Both of the goals were solo shots, giving Tech a 4-0 lead. Sophomore Marisa DeMario capped the match in the 85^th minute with her second goal of the season. Sophomore Maddy Shortt was credited with the assist thanks to another precision pass through the defense to find an open DeMario.

The Huskies season high of five goals came courtesy of six different different players contributing to the scoring with either goals or assists. Mielke led the way with two goals followed by Archibald, Zubke, and DeMario with the other three. Armstrong and Shortt checked in with the two assists. Archibald paced the team with five of the 17 total shots in the match for the Huskies.

The Tech defense limited Lake Erie (7-6-0, 2-5-0 GLIAC) to just five shots in 90 minutes, resulting in the sixth shutout this season. Goalie Kirsen Hudak, the reigning GLIAC Defensive Player of the Week, played 90 minutes in net and notched three saves to pick up her ninth win and sixth shutout this year.

Aleeya Clemons took two of the five shots to pace the Lake Erie offense on Friday afternoon. Brannon played 90 minutes for the Storm in goal and made six saves in the contest.

The Huskies will be back on the field Sunday afternoon when they travel to Walsh University for another GLIAC contest starting at 1 p.m.