NORTH BAY, Ont. – After entering the CIS national rankings as the No. 9 team on Tuesday, the UOIT women's soccer team proved that they belong with the country's best as they defeated the Nipissing Lakers 3-0 on Saturday afternoon.
 
The win marks UOIT's fifth straight conference victory as they have outscored their opponents 19-0 over that span.
 
Saturday's win sets up a showdown in Sudbury with Laurentian on Sunday. Laurentian is trailing the Ridgebacks by four points and are coming off a 7-0 win over Trent. The Voyageurs swept the season series 2-0 over UOIT one year ago.
 
Athlete of the week Taijah Henderson (Ajax, Ont.) factored in on all three UOIT goals as she scored twice and added an assist.
 
The Ridgebacks jumped out in front at the 15-minute mark as Henderson scored with Katherine Koehler-Grassau (Greely, Ont.) picking up an assist.
 
Rhiannon Kissel (Peterborough, Ont.) scored her seventh goal of the year in the 29^th minute, with Henderson setting up the freshman striker. Kissel is second in OUA scoring having notched at least one goal in four games.
 
Henderson capped off a strong first half with her second goal of the game coming in the 40^th minute. The second year forward has scored two goals in her last two games giving her four this season.
 
Helen Frampton (Toronto, Ont.) and Victoria Savage (Woodbrige, Ont.) split time in goal for the cleansheet. UOIT has not allowed a goal in 460 minutes of play with their last goal against coming vs. Carleton on Aug. 28 in the 80^th minute.
 
The Ridgebacks will return home next Saturday when they host the Trent Excalibur. Game time at the Oshawa Civic will be 1 p.m.
 
QUICK LOOK AT THE RIDGEBACKS
Overall Record: 8-1-1
Conference Record: 5-1-1
 
Next Match: Sunday, Sept. 18 @ Laurentian