[Women's Soccer] Coccetella Propels Women's Soccer Falcons to Season-Opening 1-0 win at ...

ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Lea Coccetella (SO/Wichita, Kan. ) provided the Friends University Falcons with all the scoring they would need by putting in a goal early in the second half to help the Falcons get the 2019 season started off on the right track and defeat the Missouri Baptist University Spartans 1-0 today (Aug. 30) in St. Louis, Mo.

Coccetella's goal came a little more than seven minutes into the second half at the 52:56 mark of the match.

"It's a solid win on the road against a good Missouri Baptist team," Friends head coach Brent Hobson said.

"Winning the first game is always great for confidence. It sets a good mentality going into the next few non-conference games."

Lauren Ferguson (SR/Wentzville, Mo. ), last season's KCAC Goalkeeper of the Year, recorded her 16th career shutout in the net and made three saves.

The Falcons were outshot 8-6 overall, but had a 5-3 edge over the Spartans in shots-on-goal.

Ana Waren (JR/Maize, Kan.) led Friends (1-0) with three shots, with Madison Dodd pacing MBU with four shot attempts.

The Falcons will next be in action next Wednesday (Sept. 4) evening at Concordia University. The match is set for 5:30 pm in Seward, Neb.

"It wasn't a pretty win, but I'm proud of the player's effort and ability to win a game 1-0," Hobson said. "A lot of freshmen got some big minutes today so I'm excited to see them grow throughout the year."