NORTHWEST TECH STUNS BLUE DRAGON SOCCER

Hailey Burke heads the ball in the first half of Wednesday's Blue Dragon women's soccer 4-0 loss to Northwest Tech at the Salthawk Sports Complex. (Joel Powers/Blue Dragon Sports Information)
Hailey Burke heads the ball in the first half of Wednesday's Blue Dragon women's soccer 4-0 loss to Northwest Tech at the Salthawk Sports Complex. (Joel Powers/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

HutchCC Sports Information

Northwest Tech's first goal on Wednesday set an ominous tone for the No. 18-ranked Hutchinson Community College women's soccer team.

Tech's first goal came as a result of a defensive breakdown and an unintentional deflection off a Blue Dragon defender. The Mavericks kept building momentum and upset the Blue Dragons 4-0 at the Salthawk Sports Complex.

The Blue Dragons fall to 11-1-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. The Mavericks improve to 9-2 and 6-2 in the league. Northwest Tech earned its first-ever win in four tries against Hutchinson. The Jayhawk West is up for grabs with the Blue Dragons, Mavericks and Cloud County all battling for the top spot.

Wednesday's loss snapped an 18-game Blue Dragon winning streak at the Salthawk Sports Complex. It was the first time the Blue Dragons were shut out on their home field since the opening game of 2015 when Iowa Central defeated Hutch 1-0.

The Dragons saw an 18-game Jayhawk Conference unbeaten streak end. Hutchinson was 17-0-1 in that span of games.

Hutchinson suffered a tie for the second-worst home loss in program history and tied for the fourth-worst loss in team history. The last time the Dragons lost a game by four or more goals came in 2007.

The Blue Dragons allowed four goals or more in a home game for only the 15th time in 111 all-time games at the Salthawk Sports Complex. The last time that happened was an 11-5 Region VI Tournament opening-round victory over Cloud County on October 22, 2012.

Hutchinson mustered only five shots on goal in 15 shots taken against the Mavericks. Northwest Tech goalkeeper Camryn Laberteaux made five saves in her shutout of the Blue Dragons.

Northwest Tech's Alicia Montufu had two goals and an assist to lead the Mavericks.

The Mavericks got on the board first when the Blue Dragons made a bad defensive clear out of their own end. Adrijane Felix pressed the Dragons, took the ball away and drove to the net. She was trying to go for the upper left corner, but her shot deflected off a Dragon defender and went into the lower right corner at the 20:01 mark.

The Dragons never mounted any consistent offense after that. Montufu scored in the 29th minute to five Northwest Tech a 2-0 lead. The Mavericks added two more goals in the final 10 minutes complete the stunning upset of the Blue Dragons.

Hutchinson now must regroup to take on Garden City at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Salthawk Sports Complex.