Roberts' goal pushes Storm to season-opening win

FULTON, Mo. -- Sophomore Megan Roberts had the deciding goal in the 17th minute to give the Simpson women's soccer team a 1-0 win over Westminster Friday night to open the 2019 campaign.

Roberts notched her first career goal for the Storm (1-0-0) coming off a pass from classmate Baileigh Nagy to give Simpson the victory on the road. Nagy placed the ball right in front of the night that passed by a defender and Roberts was able to drive the ball into the upper-right corner.

The Blue Jays (0-1-0) could not slow the Simpson attack while the visitors connected on eight shots in the first half and had 13 total, including six on-target.

Junior Madi Strecker paced the offense with three shots on-goal and had four attempts.

In her first game in goal for the Storm, sophomore Rachel Neumann tallied three saves to earn her first shutout, it took Simpson seven games last year to shutout an opposing team.

Quotes from Coach Reinert
"Tonight was a solid team win for our group. I thought there were moments of great soccer where our identity was clear. Overall we possessed the ball, controlled the tempo, and managed the game well.

Earning a road win and shutout, against a 2018 NCAA tournament team that reached 11 wins a year ago is a great way to start our 2019 campaign.

I'm excited to get back to work and polish up a few areas and continue to grow in the early part of our season.

Notes
• It took the Storm seven matches last season to record a shutout.
• Simpson was able to avenge a 2-0 home lose to Wesminster to begin the 2018 season

Up Next
The Storm open up their home slate on Wednesday, Sept. 4 against William Penn. The match begins at 7 p.m. inside Buxton Stadium.