SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Four Bears found the back of the net Thursday afternoon as head coach Catherine Ostoich and the Missouri State field hockey team earned their first victory of the 2016 season in a 6-0 shutout over the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds.

"Getting this first win under our belt feels great," said Ostoich. "It's really nice finally getting to see our team go out and play good hockey and score some goals. We've struggled scoring goals this season so it was excellent for us to go out and get six tonight. I feel like we've been improving on the things we've been working on in practice and I'm glad that those things translated onto the field tonight."

Missouri State got on the board early in the sixth minute, when junior forward Bianca Mills scored off a feed up the middle from sophomore Kayla Jordan following a corner play to put the Bears up 1-0. Three minutes later, the Bears struck again when junior Andrea Soler Codina drove up the middle and found the back of the net from five yards out.

In the 19^th minute, the Bears found themselves in a fast-break situation as Soler Codina passed the ball to a wide-open Renee Rhoads who successfully fired a shot from the top of the circle for the first goal of her collegiate career and the Bears' third goal of the game.

Senior Liz Young would be the fourth Bear to score in the first half, firing a shot from the top of the circle off a corner play to make it 4-0, Missouri State and to double the amount of goals the Bears had previously scored this season.

With 10 seconds remaining in the first half, Brynne Satre and the Missouri State offense lined up for a corner play. Satre entered the ball when Marina Ellison received and passed it to Young who found the back of the cage for her second goal of the game.

"I feel a lot more confident about this season after today's game," said Young. "We decided that something needed to be changed and scoring goals is what we needed after our performances in the first two weeks of games."

Entering the second half with a 5-0 lead over the Blackbirds, whose team is made up entirely of freshmen, the Bears wasted no time to put up their sixth and final goal of the day. Jordan fired a pass in to Mills who quickly turned to score off the right side of the field.

"Capitalizing on corners made a big difference and it was something that we have been working on, so it felt good to score on some of those plays today," Mills said. "We have improved and continue to try and get better at taking shots every time we get in the circle so we can put more points up on the board."

The Missouri State offense finished the night with six goals off of 27 shots and racked up eight assists. Sixteen of the Bears shots came from the first half while the remaining 11 were taken in the second. LIU Brooklyn Goalkeeper Molly Jannell finished the match with six saves.

Senior Megan Drew and Feli Heinzel combined for the Bears' first shutout, each putting in 35 minutes during the match. Drew, who made her first appearance of the season, and Heinzel led and communicated with the back line while the Missouri State defense limited LIU Brooklyn to only two shots during the match.

"I thought our defense was excellent tonight," added Ostoich. "One thing that we have worked on has been having our side-backs pushing up and attacking rather than staying back. Their communication was great tonight, starting in the back with Feli and Megan and working its way up to the forwards. Everything was in sync tonight.

"It's very important for us to carry the momentum from this win into our next game," Ostoich said. "I saw a lot of good things today with our offense and defense and I really want that to carry over when we play UC Davis."
 
Notable Performances
Bianca Mills – The San Diego native scored two goals off of five shots. Mills scored in the sixth and 34^th minute of the match, giving MSU its first and final goal.

Liz Young – Young scored her first and second goals of the season off back-to-back attempts to give Missouri State a 5-0 lead heading into the second half. The senior from San Diego also earned an assist in the sixth minute.  

Renee Rhoads – A sophomore, Rhoads scored the first goal of her career in the 19^th minute from the top-left side of the circle. Rhoads has taken two shots this season and carries a .500 shooting percentage.

Andrea Soler Codina – The junior forward scored the second goal of the night for the Bears while earning two assists throughout the match.

Kayla Jordan – Jordan earned her first two assists of the season in the first and final goals of the match. Jordan now has two points this season.

Brynne Satre – The senior saw plenty of action on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball against LIU Brooklyn, taking out 10 corner plays and earning two assists on the day.
 
Scoring Recap
• MSU – 6:58, goal off corner play – Bianca Mills (2)
• MSU – 10:02, goal five yards out on the left side – Andrea Soler Codina (2)
• MSU – 19:45, goal off shot fed from the top-left side – Renee Rhoads (1)
• MSU – 31:49, goal off corner play – Liz Young (1)
• MSU – 34:50, goal off corner play shot from five yards out – Liz Young (2)
• MSU – 37:03, goal off shot from the right side – Bianca Mills (3)

Notes
• The Bears' victory over LIU Brooklyn marks head coach Catherine Ostoich's first win as a head coach and her first at Missouri State.

• Missouri State's 6-0, shutout victory over the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds is the most goals scored by the Bears since 2011.

• Against LIU Brooklyn, the Bears tripled their total goals of the first four games of the season.

• Bianca Mills leads the Bears with three goals and seven points.

• Liz Young and Andrea Soler Codina follow Mills, tying each other with two goals, two assists and six points.
 
Next Up For The Bears
The Bears return to action Saturday, Sept. 24 against UC Davis. The Bears will continue their four-game home stand against Pacific on Monday, Sept. 26 as well as opening up Mid-American Conference play against Miami (Ohio) on Friday, Sept. 30, at Betty & Bobby Allison North Stadium. For more information, visit www.missouristatebears.com.