WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. – The West Liberty University women's soccer team battled Notre Dame (Ohio) to the wire here Sunday afternoon only to come away on the short end of a 1-0 count at the West Liberty Soccer Complex.
    It was another hard-luck loss for Coach Barry Christmas's Lady Hilltoppers (2-7-2, 2-4-1) as the Falcons (6-4-0, 6-1-0) tallied a fluke first-half goal and made it stand up for the win.
    The only goal of the game came in the 27th minute when Notre Dame got numbers forward in a counterattack following a WLU corner kick.
    The Falcons' Katja Josipovic sent the ball in to Katarina Doncevic in the box. West Liberty keeper Lauren Hartnell got to Doncevic's shot and deflected it off the post only to see it carom back into the net for a 1-0 Notre Dame lead.
    That was the only goal surrendered by Hartnell, who kept the Black and Gold in the game throughout with a total of 7 saves, but the Hilltoppers were unable to come up with the equalizer.
    The Falcons finished the match with a 17-7 edge in shots and a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks. Kyra McDowell had 3 saves in net to earn the shutout for Notre Dame, which strengthened its hold in first place in the MEC North Division.
    The WLU women head west on Wednesday for a 4 p.m. match at Urbana.
                                                                               Notre Dame                                        1  0 – 1
West Liberty                                       0  0 – 0      NDC: Katarina Doncevic (Katja Josipovic), 26:33      Shots: Notre Dame 17, West Liberty 7
     Saves: Notre Dame 3 (Kyra McDowell 3), West Liberty 7 (Lauren Hartnell 7)
     Corners: Notre Dame 7, West Liberty 3
A: 275