Harrisonburg, VA - The women's soccer team put forth a strong defensive effort against Eastern Mennonite University on Wednesday night, making their opponent from the Old Dominion Conference sweat, but in the end the Royals pulled through with two goals in the second half.

Box Score

The first half was an even match, with the Royals notching two more shots than the Highlanders and having a bit more possession. Cairn was looking dangerous on the counter-attack though, catching EMU off guard on a couple of plays. Some last ditch defending from both teams kept the score line knotted at 0-0 heading into the break.

Both teams were playing with a number of rookie players on the field, but the advantage had to go to EMU with the deeper bench. The Royals were able to throw fresh legs into the game every few minutes, while Cairn's 2nd-year coach Laura Behnke had to make due with a much smaller bench. As the game wore on, you could see tiredness start to set in and the tactic eventually paid off for EMU.

EMU's Nora Osei finally found the back of the net in the 61st minute after turning her defenders and breaking in on goal alone. Barely five minutes later, the Royals had extended their lead to 2-0. Elisa Ott scored an unassisted insurance goal in the 66th minute that gave the Royals the cushion they were looking for. The Highlanders continued fighting for the full 90 minutes but couldn't find the legs to get back in the game.

Freshman Morgan Swan (Caribou, ME / Caribou), who traditionally plays goalkeeper, has been a big help in the field protecting the backline from opposition attacks. She did, however, see her first collegiate minutes in goal for the Highlanders, replacing senior Sara Poole (Edison, NJ / Timothy Christian) in the 77th minute. Poole made 8 saves, including a couple of strong goal-bound efforts, before making her appearance in the field. Junior Amara Mills (Beesleys Point, NJ / Atlantic Christian), last season leading scorer, led the Highlanders with two efforts on goal.

Becca Borg made six saves for the Royals, earning the shutout with the help of her teammates.

Eastern Mennonite outshot the Highlanders 16-9.

EMU is now 2-0 while Cairn slips to 0-2 on the season.

Next Thursday, the Highlanders will have their hands full against DeSales University. The game starts at 4:00 pm in Center Valley, PA.