BALTIMORE - Sophomore midfielder Emily Gingrich tallied her team-leading fourth goal of the season and junior goalkeeper Allison Ebling made three saves to help lead the Saint Joseph's women's soccer team past UMBC, 1-0, Friday evening at Retriever Soccer Park. With the win, Saint Joseph's head coach Jess Mannella earned her 100th career victory.
After a scoreless first half in which the Hawks outshot UMBC 6-2, it was the Retrievers who came out aggressive for the second stanza. Delivering four shots in the opening 15 minutes, UMBC could not convert as Ebling and the SJU defense kept the score tied 0-0.
The momentum quickly swung to the Hawk's favor shortly after. In the 62nd minute, Gingrich secured a loose ball near midfield and attacked the UMBC defense up the middle. Getting by the defense, Gingrich deposited a shot past the charging goalkeeper and into to the lower right corner of the net at 61:39.
The Retrievers (4-1-0) would record four more shots from there, but again they were met by stellar play by Ebling and the SJU defense as the Hawks earned their first shutout of the season and improved to 2-3-0.
Individually, Gingrich had a team-high three shots, while junior Shannon Westhead and freshman Lauren Dimes each had two shots apiece. Ebling picked up the win in her first career shutout, while Mannella, in her 14th year at SJU, moved to 100-137-31 all-time.
As a team, SJU was outshot 9-8 with UMBC finishing with a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.
The Hawks return to action Sunday at 1 p.m. at Loyola (Md.).
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