The Waynesburg University Women’s Soccer team shut out the Franciscan Barons last night 1-0. 

“It was a great result to get on the road,” head coach George DeAugustino said. “Franciscan is a good team. It’s always tough to play at their place. We are able to keep pace with everyone else in the conference.”

The first half of the game was defined by defense, as neither team was able to find the back of the net. It was 0-0 after the first half. Amanda Pepe and Alex Delaney had a combined three shots on goal, but were all saved by the goalkeeper Callie Giguere for the Barons.

“We knew going into the game that it wasn’t going to be easy,” Pepe said. “This game really solidified how tough we are out there.”

Waynesburg took control statistically by out shooting Franciscan seven to four, and holding all corner kicks with three. Lex Greenlief had one save for the Yellow Jackets and Giguere had three.

“Throughout the first 45 minutes, we lost our identity,” DeAugustino said. “It was about finding our identity out there again. Creating goal scoring moments and earring corner kicks. We did create a lot of great chances in the second half.”

In the second half during the 48th minute, junior captain Waverly Lorne sent a long pass to Pepe, who delivered the ball past Giguere to give Waynesburg a 1-0 lead.

“Franciscan was ready to counterattack,” Lorne said. “I was able to find Pepe down the other end of the field and try to center the ball to her. Credit to her, that was a good finish.”

For the Barons, Catherine DeWolf came within inches of tying the game with a free kick in the 51st minute. The shot went over the head of Greenlief, but banged off the crossbar.

Waynesburg finished the night with 15 shots, six of them being on goal and seven corner kicks. Greenlief had three saves in the game. This is Greenlief’s sixth clean sheet of the season, which is third in the PAC.

“Franciscan was a super fun game,” Lorne said. “It was a team effort. All these games we have been playing have been crazy and coming down to the last seconds. It really is a group and team effort.”

The Yellow Jackets are in second place in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference with a 6-0-2 record with 20 points.

The Yellow Jackets will travel to 2-6 Hiram College on Oct. 22, kickoff is at 6 p.m. This the first match-up between the two schools since 2012, where Waynesburg fell 2-0. 

“We’ll prepare for them just like any other PAC team,” Pepe said. “Our hard work will pay off. We are ready to go.”