JOLIET, Ill. - The University of St. Francis women's soccer team earned its first home victory of the 2024 season on Wednesday night as the Fighting Saints scored a 2-1 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference win over Holy Cross College (Ind.) at Joliet Memorial Stadium.  The win elevated the team's overall record to 4-3-2 and kept USF perfect in CCAC play at 2-0.  Holy Cross dropped to 3-6-0 overall and 1-1 against conference competition.

First Half
The Saints went on the offensive in the first half, dominating possession for the majority of the opening 45 minutes. Each team was able to find an open look early, but after Krystal Rodriguez denied a Holy Cross attempt on goal in the fifth minute, USF countered by going on the attack.  Mia Ocana sparked the first scoring play, driving the right side of the pitch before settling back and delivering a pass to the middle of the field.  Alexis Marroquin charged in to meet the ball and struck her first goal of the season to the back of the HCC net, giving St. Francis a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute of the match.  Even though St. Francis controlled the majority of the possession, the two teams traded two shots apiece over the next 22 minutes before a failed header attempt from Abbey Janeczek off a corner kick nearly provided the Saints with their second goal.  Holy Cross would not get another shot off the remainder of the half, doing little to counter St. Francis' control of the game.  Mia Perri took the final of nine shot attempts in the first half for USF, resulting in a HCC save to preserve the 1-0 score at the halftime stoppage.

Second Half
Holy Cross looked to make adjustments to begin the second half as the visitors were the aggressor with eight of the first 10 shot attempts of the stanza.  Ariadne Gonzalez was able to swing the momentum back in USF's favor in the 66th minute, however, as a strong cross from teammate Litzy Flores found Gonzalez wide open in front of the net for the second USF score of the night.  St. Francis did have a few chances to extend its lead over the next 10 minutes, but twice missed just above the crossbar off attempts from Isabel Diez and Andrea Aguirre.  HCC was able to strike back in the 86th minute, this time setting the scoring chance from beyond the midfield line.  Holy Cross was able to advance a redirected ball and played a long pass ahead for HCC's Mia Garatoni.  Garatoni made her move, beating the nearest defender before blasting a shot past Rodriguez to make it a 2-1 contest.  Unable to get another goal in its favor, St. Francis slowed the attack and limited the number of Holy Cross touches, sitting on the 2-1 score for the final three minutes to seal the win.

The Saints ended the evening with 17 total shot attempts with seven being on goal.  Marroquin's goal came on her only shot attempt of the match. Gonzalez's score was her seventh of the season.  She ended the night with three looks.  

Diez led the team in shots with four, while Ocana, Perri and Janeczek each took two. Ocana's assist was her second of the season, while Flores collected her first on the year.  Rodriquez finished the match with six saves in goal.

Up Next
St. Francis will have two days off before returning to play, traveling to Elgin, Ill., on Saturday (Sept. 28) for a 12 pm contest against Judson University.  The match will take place at Dawson Field.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.