Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The equation is simple for the Hutchinson Community College women's soccer team on Saturday night at the Salthawk Sports Complex.

Defeat No. 18 Cloud County and earn a share of Hutchinson's first Jayhawk West title since 2016. Fall to the Thunderbirds and Cloud County owns the conference title outright.

To get to this point, the Blue Dragons have run the table since Cloud County's 2-1 come-from-behind win over Hutchinson on September 25 in Concordia. Hutchinson defeated Barton, Garden City, Hesston College, Dodge City and Pratt 24-0.

Cloud County rolls into Saturday night's showdown on a 13-game winning streak. The Thunderbirds have been equally impressive with an aggregate score of 56-7.

The first meeting in Concordia was a physical battle with six yellow cards and 36 combined fouls called.

Naomi Waithira gave Hutch a 1-0 lead in the 14th minute and the staunch Blue Dragon defense was shutting down the Thunderbirds. Finally, in the 69th minute, Cloud County broke through on a Fatima Leme goal. Five and a half minutes later, the Thunderbirds got the go-ahead goal on a Franciele Cupertino marker for a 2-1 lead.

The Blue Dragons have outscored their opponents 72-3 this season. Blue Dragon goalkeeper Chiara Soergel is the national leader in shutouts with 10, a goals-against average of 0.23 and a .921 save percentage.

Four different Blue Dragons have at least 10 goals led by freshman Samantha Vaughn's 15. Esther Karhayu has 12, Chavelle Henry 11 and Waithira has 10 goals. Waithira also had a league-best 16 assists for a team-high 36 points.

The Blue Dragons will be going for a share of the program's sixth conference title on Saturday.

After the game, the Blue Dragons will honor their 10 sophomores.