SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The Notre Dame College women's soccer team lost 1-0 to Edinboro in its season opener on Thursday afternoon. A seemingly care-free, but relentless offensive attack from the Fighting Scots combined with the Falcons being plagued by offside calls resulted in the first home loss for NDC in 15 games.
 
Edinboro shot the ball 27 times last year, making it just the second time in Notre Dame's NCAA Division II history that the team has allowed more than 20 shots. But many of the Fighting Scots attempts were wildly off mark as they looked to pound the ball towards their opponents goal as many times as possible, whether there was a clean opportunity or not.
 
EU did have 10 shots on goal and eventually their strategy worked as they scored in the 53rd minute of the game with Danille Chatten putting the first points on the board of the 2018 season.
 
The Falcons had a few offensive opportunities of their own, but got ahead of themselves on several plays late in the game. With 27 minutes left in the second half, Maranda Melton put a shot in the net in what appeared to be the game-tying goal, but the referee called her offside before the shot. Similarly, Melton was open again for a clean shot five minutes later, but was called offside a second time. NDC was offside a total of eight times throughout the game, including six in the second half.
 
Both goalkeepers played key roles for the teams as they allowed just one goal on a combined 36 shots. Kyra McDowell saved six shots in the first half to keep Edinboro at bay for as long as possible and ended the game with nine saves. The Fighting Scots goalie, Anna Voelker, saved six shots herself as two-thirds of Falcons shots were on goal.
 
Voelker had one of the key plays of the games, making a diving stop to prevent an NDC pass that would have likely scored with 13 minutes remaining. After Saige Ackerman broke away from the EU defense she attempted to cross it to an open teammate, but Voelker dove on the ball just before Brooke LeForce could reach it.
 
LeForce had the majority of Notre Dame's shot attempts with five shots, including four on goal.
 
In a close one, on the day of the season opener, it was a hard game to give up for head coach Mike Shiels.
 
"It was a tough loss," Shiels said. "We're a little disappointed in how we played today and there are a lot of things we need to work on as we go forward this season."
 
Notre Dame will play at Gannon on Saturday, September 1, at 7 p.m.