The win was the first of the year for the Lady Hawks (1-2) and also marked the first-ever collegiate head coaching victory for Shorter rookie head coach, Jennifer Colley.
"It feels great," said Colley, who spent the last two seasons as an assistant for the Lady Hawks under current Shorter men's soccer head coach Josh Severns. "The girls have been working really, really hard and they finally put 90 minutes together."
Shorter had struggled offensively in its first two matches of the season, both identical 2-1 losses to No. 17 Auburn-Montgomery and Faulkner University.
The Lady Hawks even held a 1-0 lead against Faulkner before allowing two goals in the final 25 minutes, including the game winner with 50 seconds remaining.
Any kind of let down was not to be on Tuesday.
Shorter applied early attacking pressure against the Bulldogs (2-2) that resulted in a pair of quick strikes before the match was ten minutes old.
In the 7th minute, Brandi Greenwald linked up with Kelli Davis near the right corner flag and Mary Kate Lollar was able to finish off a feed from Davis into the center of the box for a 1-0 lead.
Moments later, Greenwald took a pass from Samantha Stephens down the right side and found Wood streaking far post for a header that blew past Tennessee Wesleyan keeper Chealsey Baxter.
The goals came just 1:32 apart, and before the Bulldogs could blink, they were down 2-0.
"That is exactly how we want them to play - together as a team," said Colley, who watched her team record double assists on each of its three goals. "We are very deep so I really stress going on the field putting 100 percent in so you can come off and get a sub. We don't lose anything with our bench players.
"This is the first time that we have been this deep, I can still play six or seven subs off the bench and still have high quality."
The quality was there for Wood, who finished off Shorter's scoring with her second tally of the match in the 82nd minute on a one-time rocket on a feed to the top of the 18-yard box off the boot of Samantha Mercer.
The two goals matched the Bolton, England native's goal total from an injury-plagued 2009 and gave her six goals for her career.
"Rachel is a catalyst for our team - she is an emotional leader," Colley said. "She leads by example and tonight she showed the younger players the intensity level you have to bring in order to come away with a victory."
Greenwald and Davis each finished with two assists for the Lady Hawks, who fired six shots on target and did not allow a single corner kick to the Bulldogs. Shorter outshot Tennessee Wesleyan 16-7.
Taylor Hays notched her first clean sheet of the season, stopping three shots despite hardly being tested from close range.
Shorter returns to action on Thursday, Sept. 16 when it travels to Thomas University for a 2 p.m. match.
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