San Antonio – The 17th-ranked Trinity Tiger women opened their home campaign with a 5-0 shutout of the California-Santa Cruz Banana Slugs Friday night at the Trinity Soccer Field.
 
Trinity (4-1-0) won its third straight game, and scored a season-high in goals.
 
Junior midfielder Kelly Watts put the Tigers on the board with a goal in the 30th minute, on an assist from senior midfielder Lindsey Neubauer.
 
The Tigers went on to score four second-half goals, starting with an assisted goal by senior midfielder Jordan Azar in the 49th minute. Six minutes later, sophomore midfielder Katy Libscomb gave Trinity a 3-0 lead on a solo shot. Senior All-America defender Danika Wright scored in the 73rd minute, and first-year midfielder Meredith McDowell provided the assist. The final goal of the game, in the 79th minute, came from first-year forward Valerie Rutan. Her first-year teammate, midfielder Hannah Westberg, was credited with the assist.

Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Garrett played the full 90 minutes of the shutout, and made four saves.
 
The Tigers begin defense of their SCAC title next Friday at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. Trinity returns home Oct. 4 to host Mary Hardin-Baylor in a non-conference game.