HOUGHTON, N.Y.—With game-time temperatures hovering just above freezing the Houghton Highlanders women's soccer team provided the offensive heat, posting 39 shots in a dominating 3-0 victory over the Lancaster Bible College Chargers in Saturday afternoon's NCCAA Division I Midwest Region semifinal on Burke Field.
 
The #4 seeded Chargers conclude their season with an overall record of 10-11-1, while the top-seeded Highlanders improve to 11-6-2 and advance to the regional final on Saturday, November 21 at Burke Field where they will take on #2 seeded Ohio Christian University (11-8).
 
Over the past several weeks the Chargers have battled a series of injuries, including the loss of leading scoring Kirsten Webster (14g, 2a).  While the Lancaster Bible squad fought valiantly, including a multitude of tremendous saves by goalkeeper Kaitlyn Scheuing, the day belonged to the Highlanders.
 
Houghton took control of the game early, possessing the ball and pounding shots on net, breaking through in the 10^th minute of the game. 
 
Darlene Eckhardt (Eden, NY, Eden) beat her defender around the right side and ripped a shot on goal.  Scheuing deflected the ball across the goal mouth where Jessica Beattie (Maitland, Ontario, St. Mary's) headed the ball into the back of the net to give the Highlanders the lead.
 
Less than four minutes later Eckhardt again beat her defender to the end line on the right side then slid the ball back across the six to Sarah Gabriele (Mahwah, NJ, Eastern Christian) who punched home her team-high eighth goal of the season.
 
At the half Houghton owned a 2-0 lead and held a 17-1 advantage in shots.
 
The second half would show little difference.
 
The Highlanders continued their barrage on goal, finally finding the back of the net again in the 78^th minute.  Abigail Schmidt (Holland, NY, Holland Central) beat a defender at the top of the 18, the split the defense with a slide to Meagan Barry (Amherst, NY, Williamsville North) who pounded home a shot from 12 yards out.  The goal was the freshman defender's first on the season.  
 
Houghton owned advantages in every statistical category on the day, including shots (39-1), shots on goal (17-1) and corners (8-0). 
 
Shawna Sprout (Portville, NY, Portville Central) made one save for the Highlanders, while Scheuing collected 13 stops for the Chargers.
 
"I thought we played well," concluded Houghton head coach David Lewis.  "We possessed and created a lot of scoring opportunities.  Their keeper had a tremendous game.  It was great that we had an opportunity to play all of our girls tonight."