NO. 10 DRAGONS EARN KEY ROAD VICTORY AT NO. 18 BUTLER

Abigahil Gallegos (9) and the Blue Dragon defense earn their first shutout of Butler since 2011 as No. 10 Hutchinson defeats No. 18 Butler 1-0 on Saturday in El Dorado. (Photo courtesy by Ed Bailey)
Abigahil Gallegos (9) and the Blue Dragon defense earn their first shutout of Butler since 2011 as No. 10 Hutchinson defeats No. 18 Butler 1-0 on Saturday in El Dorado. (Photo courtesy by Ed Bailey)

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

EL DORADO – The Hutchinson Community College women's soccer team earned its first victory at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex since 2014 on Saturday and moved into first place in the Jayhawk Conference.

Kaitllyn Edwards' ninth goal of the season came in the 24th minute and the Blue Dragon defense made it stand as Hutchinson defeated Butler 1-0.

Now 11-1-3 overall, the Blue Dragons take a slim one-point lead in the KJCCC over Barton with an 8-1-3 record for 27 points. Barton, which didn't play Saturday, has 26 league points at 8-1-2. Butler fell to 5-5-5 overall and 4-5-3 in league play.

Hutchinson plays host to Coffeyville for Pink-Out Night at 6 p.m. on Wednesday at the Salthawk Sports Complex.

Hutchinson is 1-0-1 against Butler this season, earning its first victory on Butler's home pitch since October 7, 2014 when Renee Gillespie's overtime goal gave the Dragons a 2-1 victory.

The Blue Dragons earned a first-half corner kick. Adriana Delgado delivered a perfect kick into the box and Edwards headed past Butler goalkeeper Carla Apodaca with 21:14 to play in the first half to give the Dragons the lead. The goal turned out to be Edwards' third game-winning goal of the season. Delgado tallied her fifth assist of the season.

Butler outshot Hutchinson 6-1 in the first half and banged two shots off the crossbar in the first 45 minutes.

The Blue Dragon back line – goalkeeper Karsyn Slothower, defenders Kendra Brungardt, Kaylee Monk, Nancy Stefanek and Abigahil Gallegos with midfielders Jayda Wyatt, Tatiania Mayumi and Edwards, rarely got into trouble after Hutchinson took the lead.

The Blue Dragons limited Butler to just four shot attempts in the second half and Slothower had to make just one of her four saves in the second half. The Grizzlies had a pair of late corner kicks, but weren't able to develop a scoring chance.

This was Hutchinson's first shutout of Butler since the 2011 Region VI Championship game, a 1-0 double-overtime victory in Topeka. This was Hutchinson's fourth 1-0 victory over Butler in series history.

The shutout was Slothower's seventh of the season, which tied her with Clara Burgmuller (2017) for the sixth-most shutouts by a Blue Dragon true freshman and tied her for eighth on the Hutchinson single-season shutout list.

Now with 70 saves for the season, Slothower is now third on the Blue Dragon freshman list and fourth on the single-season list for saves.