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ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – You can't lose if you don't give up a shot on goal. That is what the Lewis University women's soccer team accomplished on Sunday afternoon against the Missouri-St. Louis Tritons. The Flyers had all six shots on goal in the game and upended the Tritons 1-0. The win is Lewis' fourth Great Lakes Valley Conference Victory of the season.

"(Defense) is something we've been harping on a lot this year, just our defensive organization and communication and can we get it for 90 minutes," head coach Chris Koenig said. "And I told them after the game it was the first time we've seen all year where we did it for 90 minutes."
 
Following a scoreless first half, Lewis struck just over 10 minutes into the second half. A pass by junior Hillary Cooper (Batavia, Ill./Batavia) (Batavia, Ill./Batavia/UW-Milwaukee) found junior Fran Abate (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) (Bartlett, Ill./Bartlett) in space 20 yards from the goal. Abate drove toward the net, let the goaltender come out to her and then placed the ball into the lower left corner of the net. Cooper earned an assist on the play, her first point of the year. The goal for Abate was the second of the season after scoring her first on Friday against Maryville.

Lewis had the majority of chances in the opening half, holding a 6-2 advantage in shots and 3-0 edge in shots on goal.

The Flyers' first real scoring chance came at 26:52 when UMSL goaltender Kaitlyn Smugala couldn't hang on to a pass in the box. Smugala went down to smother the ball but before she could junior Danielle Warner (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South) (Glen Ellyn, Ill./Glenbard South) came in and took an attempt. However Warner's kick only found the belly of Smugala.

Abate broke free in open space in the 31st minute but her shot from the right side was saved by Smugala.

Lewis finished with a 10-3 advantage in total shots.

"This was a big win for us," Koenig said. "It puts us in a position to put some pressure on some other teams."

UMSL falls to 3-4-0 (2-3-0 GLVC). Lewis improves to 4-2-1 (4-1-1 GLVC). The Flyers return to action on Friday evening at Bellarmine. Start time is set for 3:55 PM ET.