Musgrove hat trick fuels historic season-opening shutout over Northern Colorado

GREELEY, Colo. – Third-year Air Force Women's Soccer head coach Laura Busby, ahead of her team's season opener at Northern Colorado, touted the importance of seeing her young squad act with intention on offense and be aggressive in front of the net.

Her Falcons delivered that and more on Thursday evening, claiming a 4-0 shutout win over the Bears to improve to 2-1-2 in their last five meetings with their Greeley neighbor. But it was not just a flurry of goals – Or junior Eleanor Musgrove's three-goal hat trick that satisfied Busby's expectations - but rather the variety with which the Air Force attack was able to create scoring opportunities.

Northern Colorado (0-1-0) showed some aggression in the early minutes of the contest, driving into Air Force's territory and looking to set the tone but the Falcons managed to settle in at the eighth minute and never looked back. In the ninth, sophomore Addie Doyle, advancing from the right side of the Northern Colorado 18, found a wide-open Musgrove out along the opposite side to score the opening goal of the evening.

Sophomore Chase Borntreger threatened a pair of goals in the 12^th and 28^th minutes, forcing saves by UNC's Maddie Smith on both; but it was Musgrove who delivered the 2-0 punch at the 37-minute mark – served up on a dual assist from freshman pair Annika Jost off a corner kick and redirected to Musgrove off the head of Jordan Dillingham to establish Musgrove's second goal of the evening. The shared assist between Jost and Dillingham marked a career first for both freshmen. Air Force went to the locker room at halftime with a healthy lead and a 6-2 shot advantage in-hand.

Returning to play, the Falcons never allowed Northern Colorado the opportunity to respond, relinquishing just two UNC shots the remainder of the contest. But the Falcon attack remained on its front foot. A potential 3-0 opportunity at 48' fell short, as Dillingham, from near the half-way line, found a waiting Mai Mateaki who flipped possession over to a wide-open Caeli Sherman and fired one into a waiting UNC net, but was waived offsides.

Raine Komata, in the 57^th minute, made up for the Falcon's missed chance, pushing possession along the left wing past the UNC back line to find a waiting Musgrove, securing Air Force's first hat trick since Mia Otero scored three against UNLV on Oct. 1, 2021.

It was sophomore Kendall Rippley who put a bow on Air Force's evening in the 73^rd minute, as junior Samantha Sharp found Rippley inside the Bears' 18, who took on UNC's Smith head-to head and emerged victorious, sinking the Falcons' fourth and final goal of the evening.

Adding on to the Falcons' successes in their season opener, junior goalkeeper Kylie McElroy, logging the first minutes of her Falcon career and first career start, earned a shutout in her first career victory. McElroy, only being called up for one save on the evening, made a number of crucial plays in front of the Air Force net to maintain a clean sheet.

The Falcons' (1-0-0) win over Northern Colorado represents the program's first four-goal game and first 4-0 shutout since defeating Fresno State in similar fashion on Oct. 24, 2014.

Early impressions from Coach Busby:
"I was really proud of the total team effort today. Kylie McElroy got her first shutout in goal and Eleanor had a standout performance on the attacking side with a hat-trick. More than anything, I was proud of the attacking mentality we had throughout the match. This team has what it takes to not only out-possess our opponents, but to put the ball in the back of the net. We certainly have more work to do but I'm very excited to see what we are capable of this year."

Air Force Women's Soccer makes its Academy debut on Thursday, Aug. 22, hosting California Baptist at 6 p.m.

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