It took about 3½ minutes in the first half and 75 seconds in the second to turn a memorable day into a historic one for Allen Community College’s women.
The Red Devils, behind the scoring wizardry of freshman Kyleigh Rowe and the passing of Lexi Godlove, set a school record Wednesday by crushing visiting Cloud Community College, 8-0.
Rowe and Godlove were in the middle of it from the get-go, Rowe with a career-high four goals, and Godlove with a goal and four assists.
After missing a shot just wide seconds earlier, Rowe was on the money on her second attempt of the day, scoring off a Godlove pass less than 10 minutes into the game.
Godlove took less than two minutes to double the lead, delivering a shot out of the Cloud goalkeeper’s reach at the 13:50 mark of the first half.
Godlove then fed Rowe on a corner kick less than two minutes later. Rowe slipped past a Cloud defender, then lofted another shot beyond the goalkeeper’s reach.
“It really wasn’t anything I planned,” Rowe said. “We just wanted to get a conference win and stay undefeated at home.”
The onslaught continued after halftime.
Rowe scored her third goal at the 21:59 mark, and her fourth off a deflection at 20:45, pushing the lead to 5-0 over the shell-shocked Thunderbirds.
By then, Allen head coach Jeremy McGinnis was able to substitute freely.
Even players not accustomed to scoring got into the act.
Rachael Little took a Rowe assist and punched it past the T-Bird goalkeeper at the 12:18 mark. Savvy Fairall was next three minutes later.
Kristen Tainatongo’s blast with 17 seconds left also found paydirt, putting a fitting cap on a day for the Red Devils, who scored a collective five goals as a team in 2012.
“We’re putting things together,” McGinnis said. “The girls have been doing extra work to get things the way we like it. Beating somebody 8-0 is something we’ve never done in the history of this school.”
Allen earned the win without two starters, Kalynn Gallarde and Carlee Brinkman, who were injured in a violent collision in practice Tuesday.
McGinnis credited Allen’s defense, particularly its back line, which kept goalkeeper Keelie Arbuckle mostly idle through the match. Arbuckle easily handled any shots Cloud got past other ACC defenders.
Carleigh Konrade and Tainatongo also had assists, as did Natalie Leiker, one of the back line stalwarts, McGinnis noted.
“The girls have done a great job,” he said. “If they keep improving like they have been, this team has an opportunity to do some great things.”
“I think teams have been underestimating us,” Rowe agreed.
With performances such as those Wednesday, that’s unlikely to be the case any more.
A win for the record books
