Five first half goals were more than enough for North Texas, as the Mean Green defeated Valparaiso 7-1 on Sunday afternoon in Denton, Texas.

Melinda Pena scored three times in the first 23:15 of the match helping lead to the 5-0 advantage at the intermission.

Courtney Rahrig (Centennial, Colo./J.K. Mullen H.S.) scored on a Britta Zewers (Shoreview, Minn./Mounds View H.S.) rebound at 64:38 to put Valpo on the board, but the Mean Green added a sixth goal less than a minute and a half later, and added the final goal in the 83rd minute.

North Texas (8-3) outshot Valpo 24-5 for the match. Erin Murray (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley H.S.) made six first half saves for the Crusaders, while Danielle Guerra (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) made five stops in the second half. Briana Buchanan made the lone save for North Texas in the first half.

Valparaiso (3-6-1) will return to action on Friday afternoon as the Crusaders host North Dakota State in a match beginning at 4 p.m. at Eastgate Field.