EUGENE, Ore. – A slow start once again undermined a strong performance for the Northwest Christian University women's soccer team as they lost 1-0 on Thursday night to conference rival Corban College, who scored the game's only score in the 2nd minute.

Freshman Brittney Bowman sent a cross into the NCU box and Sophomore Genessa Neeser was able to tap past keeper Katelyn Nistler for her first score of the season. Corban continued to apply pressure following the goal as the Warriors out-shot the Beacons 11-2 in the opening 45 minutes.

The second half saw more of the same with Corban grabbing an 11-3 advantage in shots. The Beacons defense, however, made sure the game stayed close as Nistler recorded six saves and the back-line prevented any serious penetration.

“Our defense really tightened up tonight,” said head coach Vern Stewart. “Jeneca Hoidal really saved us tonight and without her or Katelyn, this wouldn't have been a 1-0 game. Katelyn really came through and is showing improvements every day.”

Corban improves to 3-4 on the season with a 1-0 mark in Cascade Conference play. The Beacons (3-6, 0-1 CCC) will return home next Wednesday to play host to Southern Oregon in another CCC clash. NCU has reached the exact midway point of the season with three more wins than they had in all of 2007.

Coach Stewart said, “I'm really proud of the team tonight. They moved the ball around well in the second half and did what we asked them to. They are showing that they have a lot of fight to them, and that makes me look forward to every game on the schedule to see what we can do in this conference. We impressed a lot of people tonight and I know that it's only a matter of time until we win a conference game.”