SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – In a 90-minute game between the Notre Dame College and University of Charleston women's soccer teams, 54 seconds defined the match. The 2-1 victory for the Falcons (8-2-1) saw all of its scoring in less than one minute of play.
 
Throughout the first half, NDC was on the attack. However, the Falcons weren't able to get much going, as they were called offside seven times in the first 22 minutes of the game.
 
Head coach Mike Shiels said his players were a half step away from one-on-one chances with the goalkeeper time and time again. And a one-on-one opportunity was exactly what Katarina Doncevic had and took advantage of to score the game's first goal.
 
"It was frustrating that we got called offside so many times, but I think it showed that we were determined to keep pushing and keep fighting," Doncevic said. "We were hungry to get goals and score."
 
With a well-placed pass from Sarah Grossman, Doncevic put one past the Golden Eagles to go up 1-0.
 
"I saw the open space and initially saw Sarah with the ball," Doncevic said as she recalled her goal. "I looked to make sure I wasn't offside and when I saw the opening I just went for and did whatever I could to finish."
 
It was that first goal from the junior forward that opened the floodgates. Only 43 seconds ticked off the clock before Marlee Coleman tied the game at 1-1 for Charleston and just another 11 before Janelle Bernal gained the lead back.
 
Bernal, with the use of her speed, earned her third game-winning goal of the season just moments after the Falcons saw their lead erased.
 
"There were a lot of emotions up and down, a lot of excitement," Doncevic said. "Obviously disappointed when they responded so quickly, but we found it within ourselves to get back in the game and counter again."
 
From the sidelines, coach Shiels and his staff experienced things a little differently.
 
"It was funny because obviously we had scored and they came down our end and scored on something that didn't look very dangerous, a cross that ended up going in," Shiels said with a smile. "To be honest, I was talking with [Robert Miller] down in the corner and by time I turned around, Janelle had already run by three quarters of their team and was passing it in. It was a tactical master class from a coaching staff that didn't even realize what was going on."
 
Both Shiels and Doncevic praised Bernal's abilities on the pitch after the game.

"She's a great asset," Doncevic said. "With her speed she can get around any defender and that's where we have our advantage."
 
"She unsettles and unbalances teams," Shiels said. "They have to change what they're doing defensively to account for her. Sometimes it creates opportunities for her and sometimes it creates opportunities for the players around her."
 
With the victory, the Falcons recover from a 0-2-1 road stretch and remain undefeated (6-0) at home.
 
Notre Dame will compete again on Saturday at Wheeling Jesuit. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.