The women’s soccer team grabbed its second conference win of the season as it defeated MidAmerica Nazarene University, 1-0, Tuesday at Liston Stadium.

Freshman Alix Schiraldi put the team up one as she followed through with a chance at net in the first half. But as the women struggled to land several other goal opportunities, it was their strong defense that kept them in the lead and MidAmerica off the board. 

“We had a lot of chances that we missed, but hopefully those will start falling for us,” sophomore Christine Janssens said. “We were up one nothing so we worked really hard on just defending and keeping our lead. We kept possession, and I think we played really well.”

The women had a point to prove going into the game against MidAmerica, a team they were unable to overcome last year. Junior Emily Burks said last year’s unsuccessful battle with the team’s opponent had the women even more motivated to come out on top.

“The game was really intense because last year we tied them, and it was really upsetting. It was kind of like a revenge game to get back what we should have won last year,” Burks said. “It was really physical, but we did really well controlling the ball and keeping possession of the game.”

This victory put the team not only undefeated in the conference but on a three-game winning streak. Sophomore Haley Oborny said the ‘Cats are proving they are not a team to be taken lightly.

“I think it was a really big win,” Oborny said. “We have three wins in a row now, and we are showing the other conference teams that we play against that we are not a team to mess around with. We are going to come out and play hard against everyone.”

Janssens said the key to the team success is giving the same effort every game.

“Some people may have thought that we would come out flat because we underestimated the team, but I thought we did very well in keeping our heads in the game,” she said.

The women face Missouri Valley College at 6 p.m Saturday at Liston Stadium.