SPARKILL, NY (Sept. 22, 2023) - Georgian Court Women's Soccer held on for a 1-0 shutout win over St. Thomas Aquinas for their first win of the season. Abby Kennelly scored late in the first half and the defense and goaltending from Morgan Highland made it hold up. GCU is now 1-3-3 this season. 

How it Happened
• St. Thomas Aquinas led in total shots 14-10 and outshot the Lions 7-3 in the second half.
• The Spartans also picked up more corner kick opportunities, 8-5.
• The match did not feature any cards though STAC was called for nine fouls and the Lions seven. 
• Goaltender Morgan Highland was tested early, making a save in the third minute.
• The Lions were inches away from taking a 1-0 lead in the first 10 minutes. Bridgette King beat the keeper but her shot rang off the crossbar and stayed out of the net.
• GCU had another opportunity off of a corner kick in the 21st minute. Gabriella Paccione had a look at the net, but her shot was saved by the STAC goalkeeper.
• The Lions finally broke through near the end of the half. Maddie Faulkner's shot hit the crossbar, but Abby Kennelly was there to pick up the rebound, giving GCU a 1-0 lead in the 40th minute.
• Highland made another save right before the half and GCU cleared out a STAC corner kick opportunity and the game was 1-0 at intermission.
• The Spartans had a pair of opportunities early in the second half. Two minutes in, STAC gained a corner kick. They also had a shot go wide and Highland made another save in the 55th minute. 
• STAC rattled off two more shots in succession near the 60 minute mark. Highland again made a pair of stops.
• Georgian Court thwarted a pair of corner kick opportunities with five minutes left to play, holding on to their 1-0 lead. 
• Highland had to make one last save in the final three minutes and the rest of the defense did their job to keep the ball away to preserve the 1-0 win.

Lion Stat Leaders
• Abby Kennelly scored for GCU and led the Lions with four shots.
• Morgan Highland made seven stops in goal.
• Bridgette King also picked up two shots.

For the Spartans
• STAC split their goaltenders by half. Catalena Robson made two saves and didn't allow a goal in the second.
• Kaitlyn Maguire led the Spartans with four shots, three on target.
• Rachel Brownell and Ella Connolly each had two shots, one on net. 

News and Notes
• The Lions perfect record against the Spartans remains in tact at 15-0
• This is the 13th time in 15 matches GCU has shut out St. Thomas Aquinas.
• This is the first Lion shutout since Oct. 1, 2022, a span of 13 matches. 
• Georgian Court was called offsides seven times.
• The goal was Abby Kennelly's fifth of her career. She now has a team-high five points on the season. 
• Izzy Hernandez needed 62 minutes to reach 1,000 for her career and is now exactly at the 1,000 minute mark. 

Up Next
• Georgian Court is scheduled to take on Felician tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m. With the inclement weather in the forecast, please keep up to date at gculions.com for the latest information on tomorrow's game.