CLARION, Pa. – Freshman forwards Nikki Bowman and Mahogany Willis led the way for the IUP women' soccer team (7-4-1, 5-4-1 PSAC) as they defeated the Clarion Golden Eagles by a score of 3-0 to give Head Coach Adel Heder the 200th win of his IUP tenure. The win improved Heder's record over his 18 years as the IUP head women's soccer coach to 200-118-23, and extended his record as the most successful coach in program history.It was fitting that Heder's 200th win came against the Golden Eagles as he has enjoyed great success against Clarion throughout his time at IUP, having only lost to against Tuesday's opponents twice in his time at IUP.

The Crimson Hawks entered the game with the goal of continuing that dominance and they got off to the perfect start when just six minutes into the game Kallie Conte was able to get behind the Golden Eagles defense and drive towards their goal. Despite being one on one with the Clarion goalkeeper Conte chose to unselfishly square the ball to a wide-open Nikki Bowman who tucked it into net to give IUP the lead.

The early goal helped to spark a wide open first half with the Golden Eagles looking to recover from the early deficit, and the Crimson Hawks pressing to double their lead. If there is one thing that the IUP front line has abundance it's pace, and the speed of Mahogany Willis in particular created some major problems for the Clarion backline in the opening stages of the game. 
It seemed like only a matter of time before Willis would make the Golden Eagles pay, and sure enough in the 16^th minute she was able to corral a pass from Megan Woodworth, gain some separation from a trailing defender, and tuck home IUP's second goal of the contest.

The rest of the half continued in a similar back and forth manner with both sides creating several half chances. However, neither side was able to capitalize on those opportunities and the Crimson Hawks went into the break with a solid lead.

That lead would be tested when play resumed with the Golden Eagles starting as the more aggressive of the two teams. However, the Crimson Hawks would weather that early bout of pressure and slowly grew back into the match as the second half progressed. As the second period wore on the game became slightly more physical with a series of fouls by both sides punctuating the action and preventing either team from really developing a rhythm.  The disrupted nature of the game actually benefited IUP as it helped the Crimson Hawks to manage the rest of the game without any serious danger from the Golden Eagles attack, and it while it looked like the match might end as a two goal victory for IUP, with just under a minute left in the game Mahogany Willis was able to grab her second goal of the day to cap off the victory for IUP and secure Coach Heder's 200^th win.
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks (7-4-1, 5-4-1 PSAC) will travel to Edinboro to play the Fighting Scots on Friday at 2:00 p.m. before welcoming Kutztown to Indiana on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's soccer on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPsoccer.