JOLIET, Ill. – The University of St. Francis women's soccer team saw its nine-game unbeaten streak come to an end Wednesday night following a 2-0 loss to St. Ambrose University.  In a contest that stayed tight the majority of the way, the Fighting Bees were able to pull ahead after authoring back-to-back goals in the match's 78th minute.  The loss marks the first defeat for the Fighting Saints in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference play and drops the team into a tie for second place in the league standings.

First Half
St. Ambrose (8-5-2, 6-2-0 CCAC) controlled the possession throughout the majority of the first half by getting 11 shots off, resulting in six saves from USF keeper Krystal Rodriguez.  In the 20th minute, the Saints (7-4-5, 5-1-3) looked like they had broken through as senior Zoe Villont headed the ball towards the SAU net, but a diving save from the visiting goaltender kept the match scoreless.  USF would take its second attempt with another header effort, this time from sophomore Isabel Diez, at the 40:06 mark, but the try would result in another SAU save.  St. Ambrose's defense held USF to just two shots in the first half with both teams heading into the break tied 0-0.

Second Half
The second half saw plenty of offensive attacks from both sides.  St. Ambrose was able to fire first, rattling off 14 of the half's first 16 shots, but could not cash in as a solid defensive line from USF blocked seven of those tries.  St. Francis responded by picking up the pace quickly thereafter and began to put pressure on the SAU defense.  After three quick USF shot attempts between the 75th and 77th minutes came up short, St. Ambrose was finally able to break the deadlock when the Bees connected for two goals just 36 seconds apart in the 78th minute.  Needing to catch up quickly, the Saints desperately tried to cut down their 2-0 deficit with a string of six straight shot attempts between the 82nd and 84th minutes.  The St. Ambrose defense would stay steady, however, blocking four attempts during the attack to shut the door on the Saints and claim the 2-0 victory.

For the match, the Saints were outshot by the Bees 29-13 with only four of their attempts registered as on-target.  Ixchel Pelayo and Ariadne Gonzalez led USF with three shots apiece, while Abbey Janeczek and Diez chipped in two.  Rodriguez tied a career-high by collecting 11 saves during her 90 minutes in the net.

Up Next
St. Francis will continue its season on Saturday, Oct. 26, traveling to La Crosse, Wis. to take on Viterbo University.  The match is slated to begin at 1 pm.

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