The women’s soccer team closed out the home portion of its schedule on Sunday and came away with a 1-0 victory over Ohio Valley Conference opponent Austin Peay.

The lone goal came from redshirt junior midfielder Emma Scaro. It came in the 32^nd minute of the first half off a cross from freshman midfielder Malorie Henderlong. The ball was redirected in front and mishandled by the Governors junior goalkeeper Lindsey Todd. Scaro found the ball and kicked it in to the back of the net for her second goal on the year.

Coach Kiki Lara said that the goal made the team believe that they were going to win the game and that’s what they did.

To keep that lead, Lara said the team needed to focus on being defensively aware and knew that Austin Peay would try and make adjustments to attack the defense.

“We knew we were going to be in a battle,” Lara said. “We just said we need to focus on super disciplined defensively and aware.”

In that first half, the Panthers were out-shot 8-4. That one goal was all the Panthers needed to capture the victory.

Throughout the second half, the Governors kept on the offensive with counter-attacks and kept the pressure on and the Panthers made adjustments.

“We knew that they were going to be pushing for a goal; they were just lumping that ball forward and we had to handle it,” Lara said. “We were very good in the air with all of our players back there and we provided good cover. It was just about getting pressure on the ball, challenging, trying to win the first challenge and cover underneath and the girls just working out for each other.”

The Panthers only had one shot in the second half while the Governors had five.

Both teams played physical on both sides of the ball. Nearly after a minute after the goal, the Governors sophomore midfielder was given a yellow card for a hard slide on a Panther player. In the second half, sophomore midfielder Elisabeth Held was also given a yellow card. Lara said the Panthers are known for being gritty and tough defensively.

Freshman goalkeeper Sara Teteak saw 13 shots but only four shots on goal from the Governors and ended up with her fourth shutout this year.

“She kept us in there and had a couple of good saves in the first half,” Lara said. “She’s very good at doing that. But it was a team effort. The team in front of her did a really good job of making things difficult. It was a combination of Sara, she did very well, but I also think that the team was committed to being great defensively.”

“They (Austin Peay) were trying to get over the top of us, but we stayed tight and remained close,” Teteak said. “The only things we had was catching us off of counters, but otherwise our defense had a really great game. I needed that (shutout), I think we all did. We can definitely build off of that.”

On Friday, the Panthers ended up with a 3-0 loss to Murray State. Teteak saw 11 shots and had eight saves on the day. The Panthers did not register a shot on goal but had six shots. The game was played at Lakeside Field, while on Sunday, the game was moved to the practice fields behind O’Brien Field due to rain early in the morning. The change in location did not affect the team Lara said.

“Whether it’s here or it’s there, we still have a job to do,” Lara said. “Either way, it’s still home for us, it feels like home for us, and we played enough times out here that it actually feels good. A win is a win, so it’s good.”

The Panthers have three remaining games, all on the road. With this win, Lara said that he hopes the team has built up confidence to be able to produce good results.

“(They) are performing very well, you’re going to have some good and some bad results wise, but as long as we keep plugging away and keep staying steady, we’ll be fine,” Lara said.

Tyler McCluskey can be reached at 581-2812 or trmccluskey@eiu.edu