By: Vinnie Birk -Blackburn College Sports Information

In a battle for control of 5th place in conference and a step closer to the postseason tournament, the Principia College Panthers came to Carlinville, Ill. and bested the Blackburn College Beavers by a score of 4-0.

Blackburn was outshot 29-5 in the contest, but the Beavers had two excellent chances in the early going. Meghan Sykora (Arnold, Mo), who led the team with two shots, had a breakaway chance that slid wide of the goal. Minutes later, Casey Fellin (Gillespie, Ill.) was fouled in the box which led to an Allison Guerra (Elsah, Ill.) penalty kick. Guerra could not pound home the attempt which was saved by the Principia keeper.

Those were two golden opportunities that Blackburn surely needed to connect on. The Panther defense was rock solid from that point forward. A few ticks after the penalty shot, Principia took a 1-0 lead and then enhanced it to 2-0 just moments later. They scored two in each half and were on the offensive attack for most of the game.

Nicole Kelly (St. Louis, Mo.) did make 10 saves in goal for the Beavers who are now 7-8-1 overall with a 2-3-1 SLIAC mark. Blackburn will be in St. Louis, Mo. this weekend as they take on the first place Webster University Gorloks.