CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Wesleyan has been playing stingy defense all season and especially of late.
So it was no surprise that even though Charleston was celebrating its 25th season of women's soccer and its senior night on Saturday at Trace Fork, the Bobcats were in no giving mood.
Wesleyan's Colette Biondi found the back of the net 17:20 into the match and the Bobcats absorbed body blow after body blow but never buckled in a 1-0 win over the Golden Eagles in front of a crowd of 350.
It marked the fourth straight shutout and the fourth straight win for the Bobcats (6-3-1), who've only yielded six goals in their 10 games this season.
Wesleyan coach Patrick Holguin said his defensive unit continues to get better.
"We've finally established a starting defense," Holguin said. "It's a group of juniors that have excellent chemistry - they've been together for three years. They work hard for one another and it's just a total team effort."
They certainly had to work to keep UC (4-5-1) at bay as the Golden Eagles fired 16 shots, including nine in the second half, and pressured the Bobcats relentlessly.
But as close as they came on several occasions, coach Todd Diuguid's Golden Eagles could never break through in losing their third 1-0 decision in the last four games.
"The effort was there," Diuguid said. "Anytime the effort is there and the work rate is there, you're pleased with your team's performance when they have the technical ability that we have.
"It's unfortunate that the ball doesn't go in the goal. We definitely had our opportunities. Eventually the ball is going to go into the goal, which is what I explained to them. You have to keep a positive attitude, continue to work hard, and positive things will happen."
Breaking into the scoring column has been the key all season for Charleston as it is 3-0 when scoring two or more goals in a game and 1-5-1 when it scores less.
As Diuguid said, the chances were plentiful as Holly Bigg (Limehouse, Canada) and Danielle Siegrist (Wexford, PA) each registered four shots and Brittany Loveland (Cheswick, PA) attempted three. UC outshot the Bobcats 16-10.
But Biondi's early tally really seemed to put Charleston into scramble mode early and an already uphill battle against a great defensive team got much steeper to climb.
"It's always difficult when you have to chase the game because you sacrifice a little defensively for more offensive tactics," Diuguid said. "But we did well and we have nothing to hang our heads over other than the fact that we weren't successful in winning."
Wesleyan's Lauren Duncan made seven saves in anchoring the defensive effort while UC's Jennifer Poppe (Barrie, Canada) stopped four shots.
