MIDDLETON — Middleton girls soccer coach Ken Burghy knows how lucky he is to have a goalie like Lauren Gunderson.

Through five games this season, the senior proved impenetrable.

She had yet to give up a goal for the Cardinals, ranked sixth in the state in the latest Wisconsin Soccer Coaches Association poll.

Gunderson, a University of Wisconsin recruit, added to her resume with another shutout Tuesday. She made four saves and backed an early first-half goal by fellow senior Sammy Vovos, as Middleton scored an important 1-0 Big Eight Conference victory over the fifth-ranked Spartans.

"You just can't overstate how important that is," Burghy said. "Not that the rest of the kids in front of her don't work hard. But if a team does manage to get through, there's nobody else that can do the same job that she can."

The schools entered the match atop the conference at 2-0 and first-year Spartans coach Ben Voss looked to the showdown as a proving ground.

With a victory over Madison West — last year's conference champions — under their belts, the coach knew his Spartans could take a big step forward.

"It's been West and Middleton and us at the top of the Big Eight," Voss said. "We were fortunate enough to beat West already. To have to bounce back, five days later and play Middleton, we wanted to jump out and beat them.

"They just find ways to win and score goals."

Vovos scored on a header, beating senior goalie Anna Whitcomb (seven saves) off a corner kick from classmate Michele Hoffman at 13 minutes, 29 seconds — and Gunderson and the defense made it hold up for the Cardinals (5-0-1 overall, 3-0-0 Big Eight).

Memorial (4-1-1, 2-1-0) did have its chances. The Spartans repeatedly found themselves in front the goal, but Gunderson and her teammates always answered with a stop.

"I'm very happy with the way we played defensively," Burghy said. "Now they had a couple of good opportunities, but we've got Gunderson in goal and that's always a real saving grace in any situation."

His goalie deflected praise.

"It's awesome," Gunderson said of her support. "We're kind of known for our defense and we have been for the past few years — that's what wins games."