FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IUPUI women's soccer team put up one of its most complete efforts of the Spring 2021 season on Monday, dispatching of Purdue Fort Wayne by a 3-0 score on Monday (Apr. 5). In doing so, head coach Chris Johnson's club assured itself of a spot in the four-team Horizon League Tournament. The Jags will enter the postseason as the No. 3 seed and trek to No. 2 Milwaukee next Sunday (Apr. 11). 

On Monday, the Jags matched their season-high with three goals scored and turned in their sixth shutout of the year at the other end. The goals were a welcome sight as IUPUI had been blanked in each of its past two outings, having not scored since a 1-0 win over UIC on Mar. 17. 

"Jess Jacobs put in a great ball to Miranda and she hit a beautiful one-time finish. A few minutes later, Jess did it again and McNally put the exclamation point on that one," Johnson said. "Overall, it was a great defensive effort in not giving up too much on our goal and another clean sheet for AP and Emily."

IUPUI tallied twice on corner kicks in a highly productive 75-second span late in the first half to seize control. The first came when Miranda Ricks earned an initial corner kick and then scored the goal when Jessica Jacobs' service got through traffic to Ricks at the six-yard box. Moments later, Jacobs delivered a corner kick from the opposite side and Natalie McNally rocketed a left-footed shot just under the bar. It marked Jacobs' team-high third and fourth assists of the campaign. 

Senior Kamryn Benscoter added an insurance tally in the 67th minute when she rolled a shot just inside the near post for her first score of the year.

"We knew we were at the point in our season where we had to win to keep moving forward. We all agreed we didn't want today to be our last game, so we just went out there and played our hearts out," Ricks said. "Every minute was a battle, but all three goals coming from seniors just shows you how badly we wanted it."

IUPUI was on the attack early, getting an early, ambitious attempt on frame from Renae Blevins in the fifth minute and an attempt from Maya Lacognato from the left side that flew just over the bar in the seventh minute. 

IUPUI continued to control possession and Valentine Pursey put a tester on target in the 20th minute. 

As the half continued, the hosts gained footing and began challenging the IUPUI defense and sophomore goalkeeper AP Woodall, who had missed the past two matches. The Jags dodged a bullet in the 31st minute when Zoe Greenhalge was unable to redirect a header on target off service from the right side. 

Woodall ultimately played 79 scoreless minutes and made a pair of saves before giving way to Emily McGrath, who made an impressive stop in keeping the score clean over the final 11 minutes. 

Offensively, IUPUI outshot the hosts by a 13-9 margin and had a 9-3 edge in shots on goal. In addition, IUPUI had five corner kicks and held the Mastodons without a corner. 

IUPUI will look to replicate an earlier regular season victory over Milwaukee as the Jags defeated the Panthers 1-0 in Milwaukee earlier this season.