EVANSTON, Ill. -- Five different Wildcats scored goals and No. 17 Northwestern held Ball State without a shot the entire contest as NU opened its home season with a convincing 5-0 victory Friday afternoon at Lakeside Field.

The 'Cats finished the contest with a dominating 23-0 edge in shots, including putting 18 of the shots on frame. Northwestern also held a 10-0 advantage in penalty corners.

NU wasted little time at all in getting on the scoreboard as they earned a penalty corner in the opening minute of play. Isabel Flens converted on her third goal of the season off assists from Kirsten Mansfield and Puck Pentenga to put the hosts up 1-0 only 1:28 into the match.

Ball State nearly tied the game a few minutes later, but a goal was ruled to have been kicked in which disallowed the tally. That would be as close as the Cardinals would get to a shot the entire afternoon.

Despite dominating the contest, Northwestern maintained the slim one-goal lead until there was just over 10 minutes left in the opening stanza. Junior Elena Curley drove the right endline and jammed home an insurance goal past Jordan Dues to make it 2-0 at 24:30.

Five minutes later, the Wildcats extended the lead to three thanks a trio of Dutch players. Flens made a long run up the middle of the field before feeding a pass to Saar de Breij. The freshman managed to pull Dues out of her cage and found a streaking Eva van Agt all alone for an empty net and her first goal of the year.

Northwestern would take the 3-0 lead into the intermission after notching a 13-0 edge in shots over the opening 35 minutes of play.

The margin increased to four at 47:06 when Juliet Beatty knocked home a rebound of an initial shot on a penalty corner. It was the first goal of the year for the senior.

The Wildcats capped the scoring at 63:34 when Katie Yeatts crossed a pass from the right side to Dominique Masters who finished from in front of the cage. The goal was the third of the year for Masters, tying her with Flens and Curley for the team lead.

Meanwhile, Lindsay von der Luft (first half) and Annie Kalfas (second half) split time in goal for NU in picking up the shutout.

Northwestern returns to action at noon Sunday when it host Colgate at Lakeside Field.
 

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