The Lady Cougars (5-2-1) came out strong to start the match and held a 9-4 advantage in shots in the first half, but neither team was able to score as the match went to the half knotted at 0-0.

The visiting Lady Dragons (6-4-0), who left the AMC and are now an NCAA Division II school, began to put more pressure on MVNU in the second half, but the Lady Cougars were able to turn away every surge.

Then, in the 57th minute, junior forward Page Miller made a run up the far flank and sent a pass forward to senior forward Kristy Brandolini in the penalty area. Brandolini made several moves and then laid a pass off to freshman forward Jessica Estep (left). Estep settled the ball and then chipped a shot over Abby Grieser, the Tiffin goalkeeper, to give MVNU a 1-0 advantage. The goal was Estep’s third of the season.

The Lady Dragons continued to put the pressure on the Lady Cougars’ defense as Tiffin ended up out-shooting MVNU 12-3 in the second half. However, freshman goalkeeper Jenessa Loewen (below right) and the Lady Cougars’ back line answered the challenge each time as MVNU prevailed 1-0.

Loewen finished with seven saves in posting her second shutout and the team’s third shutout of the season. Meanwhile, Grieser stopped four shots for the Lady Dragons.

“I was really pleased with the way that we came out and did some nice things in the first half,” said MVNU head coach Jonathan Meade. “Besides scoring the one goal, we basically did what we needed to do in order to win in the second half. It was not necessarily pretty, but we got the job done. Jenessa had her best match of the season so far for us in goal, and Jena (Dickerson) played really well off the bench. Jessica also continues to be solid up front in creating scoring chances. It’s exciting to have some of our freshmen stepping up to the challenge. We continue to work on things in our practices and we need to execute them in the matches. This team has a lot of potential and is still trying to play up to it.”

“It is always nice to beat Tiffin because they are definitely a quality side,” Meade added. “However, it was definitely different not to have the conference title on the line in this match.”

The Lady Cougars will look to take their first step in defending their AMC South Division title on Saturday when MVNU will host Urbana University (8-1-0) in the conference opener for both teams.