Oct. 1, 2000

Box Score

TOLEDO, OH - From the start of two-a-day practices back in early August, Toledo Head Coach Rj. Anderson stressed to his women's soccer team that he wanted them to play good, fundamentally sound soccer for an entire 90-minute match. Today in the sunny and warm temperatures at the Toledo Soccer Field, the Rockets did just that, as they disposed of the visiting Northern Illinois Huskies, 5-0. With the win, the Rockets improve to 3-6-1 overall (2-3-1 MAC), while Northern Illinois falls to 3-8-1 overall (1-3-1 MAC).

The Huskies were coming off a impressive 4-2 victory on Friday at Bowling Green, who entered that match-up unbeaten in conference play, while the Rockets tied at Western Michigan, 2-2.

"I am very happy with our performance today," said Anderson. "We made very few mental mistakes and that is a sign of a good team. This squad was looking to bust out against someone, and I'm glad it was today. We had never beaten this team in three previous match-ups."

The shutout was the first since the Midnight Blue and Gold blanked Detroit, 4-0 on Sept. 15 1999, and their first MAC shutout since Oct. 4, 1998, when they recorded a 1-0 win against Marshall.

Toledo took it the Huskies in the initial stages of the first half applying pressure to the Northern defense. The intense pressure paid dividends at 36:47 when freshman Melissa Lesage scored her third goal of the season off a corner kick from sophomore defender Alissa DeLong. DeLong played a perfect ball into the middle of the penalty box that Lesage made a perfect run into space on and drove a header into the back of the net. The goal by Lesage is her second in as many games.

The Rockets extended their lead to 2-0 five minutes into the second half, as sophomore forward Corrie Hasenjager recorded her ninth goal of the season at 40:46.

Twenty-one minutes later at 29:22, Hasenjager scored her second multiple goal of her career on a breakaway score from freshman Anna Rask. Rask played a perfect ball into space that Hasenjager was able to get behind the Huskie defense and notch her 10th score of the season. The assist was Rask's fourth of the season. The goal by the Dayton, OH, was her eighth in six games and 21st of her career.The school record for goals in 23 by Kellie Boone (1995-1998).

Toledo added two late goals by Rask from freshman Liz Sullivan at 87:44 and sophomore Jennifer Ridler from Alissa DeLong at 89:21 to finish off the scoring.

Sophomore Jennifer Hoffman went the full 90 minutes between the posts to record the shutout and notch her first victory of 2000. In the match, Hoffman recorded four saves and faced 13 shots. The dominated the stats, recording 26 shots, compared to 13 for Northern.

The Rockets return to action next Friday, Oct. 6, as they host Ball State at 4:00 p.m. and Miami on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 1:00 p.m.

TOLEDO 5 , NORTHERN ILLINOIS 0
UT: Melissa Lesage (Alissa DeLong), 36:47
UT: Corries Hasenjager (Odia Jahurally), 49:14
UT: Corrie Hasenjager (Anna Rask), 60:38
UT: Anna Rask (Liz Sullivan), 87:44
UT: Jennifer Ridler (Alissa DeLong), 89:21