GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - The No. 9 Columbus State University women's soccer team used another balanced attack to put away Tusculum University 5-0 on Wednesday in a non-conference matchup. 

Five different players found the back of the net as CSU (15-1-1) concluded its non-conference slate of the regular season.

"It's always nice when you have a few different options to turn to on the offensive side of the pitch," commented Jay Entlich. "We've done a good job of late of spreading out our attack, and we have to continue to get looks from all of our goal scorers moving on to be successful."

Columbus State moved in front in the 20th minute when Maddie DeFranco scored following a pass from Anna Grady. The senior rifled the shot from the top-right side of the box.

The Cougars put two more on the board before the end of the half. Vanessa Aviles rifled in a deep goal in the 38th minute before playing a ball to Lizz Forshaw in the 43rd minute to set up a score.

In the second half, Lauren Barnes made it 4-0 in the 62nd minute after a great display of passing from Rachael Sweigard and Samantha Romaine. Kelly Hendricks capped up the scoring, adding a goal in the 88th minute on a 1 v. 1 situation with the goalkeeper. Sydney Ormsby picked up an assist on the play.

Columbus State controlled the pace of play, outshooting Tusculum (3-13-0) 27-5 and holding a 14-5 corner kick advantage. 

Sara Halilhodzic and Lizzie Hedrick teamed up for their ninth shutout. Hedrick was the only one who saw action, making a save on the lone TU shot-on-goal. 

UP NEXT
Columbus State will close out the regular-season with a Peach Belt Conference match against Albany State University on Saturday, Oct. 30. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. in Albany, Ga.

COUGAR NOTES
• The Cougars were ranked first in the initial NCAA Southeast Region rankings. The top-eight teams advance to the NCAA Championship, which begins on Nov. 19
• It was the sixth time this season that CSU had four or more different goal scorers in a match. 
• It's the first time CSU recorded back-to-back shutouts since the Cougars blanked three straight opponents since late September 
• CSU has scored three or more goals in 11 of its last 12 matches
• Barnes is now tied for sixth in the PBC with seven goals. It's the first time that the freshman has scored in back-to-back matches
• DeFranco's goal was the fifth of the year for the senior, which ties her career-high for goals in a season. DeFranco also scored five during her freshman season in 2018
• Aviles has scored in three of the last four matches, including in back-to-back outings
• CSU has outshot their last two opponents 43-6 
• The Cougars are 8-1-3 on the road in their last 12 non-conference regular-season matches
• Columbus State now leads the all-time series 8-3-0 after winning its seventh straight against Tusculum