SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – In its largest victory of the season, the Notre Dame College women's soccer team improved to 3-1 in Mountain East Conference play. The Falcons defeated Urbana 3-0 with a heavy dose of offense.
 
From the opening kick, NDC went on the offensive with forwards Saige Ackerman and Katarina Doncevic burdening the Blue Knights' defense. Both players would record assists as their abilities with the ball allowed their fellow Falcons to get open.
 
"We wanted to make sure we put them under pressure," said head coach Mike Shiels. "We got a hold of the ball and we were able to move it and play more aggressively in the offensive third."
 
Scoring the first goal of the game was Katja Josipovic, who received a pass from Doncevic and perfectly placed the ball in the net from a distance.
 
"[Assistant coach Robert Miller] spoke to the players about a play almost exactly like that before it happened," Shiels said. "Doncevic does such a good job of breaking teams down on the dribble. We just talked about her options when she does that. She picked the right one and Katja put herself in the right place."
 
Notre Dame was only able to capitalize on one of their nine shots in the first half, but things opened up early in the second half as the team was able to get off 11 shots in the last 45 minutes.
 
Less than three minutes into the second half, Norah Barnes was able to secure the second goal, assisted by Ackerman on a play in the box. Barnes took two other shots early in the first half, and was finally able to connect.
 
"We've emphasized trying to get numbers in the box and put ourselves in dangerous places, and that's what Norah did," Shiels said.
 
The third, and final, goal came towards the end of the game in the 85th minute after a corner kick taken by Ackerman was flushed back out to the sophomore from Cazenovia, N.Y. Ackerman sent the ball into the scrum again, this time finding Andrea Spinelli. Spinelli, a defender who has started all 28 of her career games, scored her first career goal on the play.
 
"Saige has really done a good job as that target player," Shiels said. "She brings her teammates into the play. She does well holding on to the ball and moving it forward, which allows us to get numbers up on offense. She put herself in good spots today and made the right plays."
 
Goalkeeper Kyra McDowell recorded her second shutout this season after recording two saves and facing three corner kicks.
 
Notre Dame will travel to Concord on Sunday, September 30, for a 1 p.m. game.