(23) Women's Soccer opens Heart play with 3-1 win over MNU

Women's Soccer opened Heart of America Conference play on the right foot Wednesday night. 

The (23) Ravens toppled the MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers 3-1 at Legacy Field.

The Ravens opened the scoring 22 minutes into the match when Kourtney Koc connected with Riley Degner, who went to the bottom right of the net for the goal. The Pioneers quickly tied it up, though, with Jacque Schwager scoring to level the match at 1-1 just a minute later.

The score remained level until the final seconds of the half. With less than 10 seconds to play before the halftime buzzer, Sam Mausbach sent a looping cross into the box and Rachel Beffa sent a shot that was just over the reach of the MNU keeper. The Ravens took a 2-1 lead into the break.

The Ravens halftime lead was well-earned as they out-shot MNU 9-4 and maintained the bulk of the possession. The Pioneers were more physical, getting whistled for 11 fouls compared to 3 for the Ravens.

Degner notched her second goal of the match with just under 27 minutes to play to give the Ravens some insurance. She got to a bouncing ball in the box, then sent a rocket past the MNU keeper to extend the Ravens lead to 3-1.

Olivia Berry made 4 saves in goal for the Ravens, including a couple on fast-break opportunities for the Pioneers that helped preserved the lead.

In the game, the Ravens had 20 shots, 10 on goal, and limited MNU to 9 shots, 6 on goal.

The Ravens have rattled off five-straight wins after their season-opening loss to improve to 5-1 on the season, and they open conference play with a record of 1-0. The Ravens will host Culver-Stockton College at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 18 on Legacy Field.