EUGENE, Ore. - With just five days of practice under their belts, the Northwest Christian University women's soccer team hit the field for an official game on Monday, dropping the contest to Canada's Kwantlen Polytechnic, 2-1.
 
Head Coach Jessica Cardwell, completing her first game as a collegiate head coach said, "We felt like we took a huge step up from our alumni game on Saturday and I'm really proud of the way they were able to make some changes without any more practices. We obviously have a lot of stuff to still work on but this game gave us some specific things to work on which will help as we continue training camp."
 
After an early barrage saw Kwantlen put three shots on goal, NCU was able to right the ship defensively to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard in the first half. The Beacons eventually posted their first goal of the season in the 42nd minute as Maddi Bartholomew scored from ten yards off a deflection from an Annie Tunstill strike.
 
Both Eagle goals ended up coming in a five minute period with the first hitting the net on a penalty kick in the 53rd minute. Kwantlen went on a breakaway and a foul in the box from the Beacons final defender created the PK opportunity.
 
It was another breakaway goal in the 58th minute as Shayla Wilson came off a through ball and was left one-on-one with NCU Keeper Kristin Fulbright. Fulbright came out to make a play on the ball, but dove for the stop just outside the 18-yard line. The ball was then tapped past her by Wilson, trickling into the net for the game-winner.
 
NCU (0-1) finished the game with three shots, all on-goal. The Eagles (1-0) posted seven shots as Fulbright made five saves. The senior 13 saves away from setting a new career record for the Beacons.
 
The Beacons will return to action next Tuesday afternoon, playing a home non-conference game against Oregon Tech at 1:00 pm.