GRAYSON, Ky. - CIU women's soccer hit the road to open up Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) play against the Kentucky Christian Knights on Thursday. The Rams entered the match off a big win over NAIA member Brewton-Parker on Monday, and looked  to start conference play off with a win. CIU has a perfect history against KCU and has only allowed one goal from the Knights in the last four contests. 

Scoring Summary: Marisa Dill was ready as soon as the whistle blew and found the back of the net in the first eight seconds of the game with an assist from Avery Long. Long extended the Rams' lead to 2-0 (20:42), and shortly after, CIU added another off an own goal. Amber McKinley scored her first goal of the season, off an assist from Haley Hernandez, five minutes before halftime to give CIU a 4-0 lead at the intermission. 

It was Lily Vengelis ready to go at the whistle in the second frame as she scored her first career goal less than two minutes into the second half, thanks to a setup from Mazzie Leos. Six minutes later, Vengelis set up Leos to score her first goal of the game and extend the lead to 6-0. Mercy Berkemeyer (68:28) and Ellie Berkemeyer (80:33) joined in on the action and added two more goals in this half, assisted by Jessica North and Hernandez. Ellie Berkemeyer's goal was the first of her three year CIU career. Abby Roloff, closed out the game and scoring her first goal of her CIU career off a pass from North to give the Rams a 9-0 victory over the Knights. 

What Coach Kara Lail is saying: "It's always great to start conference off with a win. I'm really proud of everyone who stepped up, we had a lot of first goals tonight. We've traveled a lot this week and still have one more game, but we just have to stay focused and keep working." 

Up Next: CIU women's soccer continues AAC play with a visit to the Bluefield University Rams (Va.) on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 2 PM.