Spear and Knispel dominate to lead HU to lopsided win

BLUFFTON, Ohio - In one of the most dominate performances in program history, the HU women’s soccer team (4-4-1) handed Bluffton University an 8-0 loss Friday afternoon. It was Huntington’s largest margin of victory since September of 2014 when they topped Holy Cross 9-0.  

It was a goal-fest for the visitors with several Foresters having career nights. Senior Brandi Spear posted her first collegiate hat trick in the first half and then added one more to start the second. Today’s four goals more than matches her season total as she now boasts seven goals in her final campaign, 11 for her career.

Matéa Knispel also found back netting three times in the opening 45 minutes for her second hat trick in less than two weeks. Tessy Geiss got in on the action too by scoring just before halftime to give her team a 7-0 lead at the halfway point before Spear rounded out the scoring less than two minutes into the second period to make for the 8-0 final.

Geiss also assisted Spear’s third goal while Nicole Pennington handed out two. Four of HU’s other five goals were assisted with Millie Adams, Bailey O’Dell, Madison Kidder and Jessica Chojnacki each picking up a dime.

Junior Autumn Demott claimed the clean sheet in the net. She snagged the Beavers’ lone shot on goal to finish with a save in her 90 minutes of play.

HU posted 34 shots, 20 on frame, to Bluffton’s three.

“Tonight was certainly a great way to wrap up the non-conference portion of our schedule,” said Coach Burge. “We were really focused on precision today so it was good to see us finish with confidence.

“We look forward to the coming week as we prepare to kick-off conference play on Saturday.”

Huntington’s league-opener is at Goshen under the lights at 7:00 p.m.

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 38 NAIA All-America honors and 274 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.