Rio Grande --- The University of Rio Grande RedStorm women's soccer team opened the 2010 campaign with a 2-0 victory over visiting Muskingum University on Wednesday night at Evan Davis Field.

Rio Grande (1-0) had a goal this season of being more assertive on the offensive end and they were successful in reaching that goal in game one. Rio Grande had 14 shots for the game, eight of which were on goal.

Sophomore forward Erica Feeman (Lancaster, OH) started the scoring in the 16^th minute when she beat Muskingum goalkeeper Monica Spring on a free kick, lobbing the ball into the back of the net, just over her out-stretched gloves. That would prove to be the only goal the RedStorm would need on the night.

Feeman was involved with the second goal, again on a free kick in the 50^th minute. This time freshman midfielder Mary Beth Schramm (Marietta, OH) was on the receiving end and was able to put the ball into the net and give the RedStorm a 2-0 advantage. 

Junior Mara Howell (Covington, OH), who just joined the team two days ago when Rio Grande suffered injuries to both goalkeepers, filled in admirably. Howell recorded six saves and earned the first shutout of her career. 

Muskingum (0-1) picked up the pace in the second half, posting 13 shots (seven in the second half) and six on goal (five in the second half) for the game.

Spring recorded six saves for Muskingum. 

Rio Grande head coach Amber Oliver was pleased to begin the season on the winning side of the ledger.  "We lost to this team last year, tied them a couple times in the years past, it feels great to actually get past Muskingum with a win this year," Oliver said. "It kind of shows the heart of our team, they worked well together."

"We've worked on finishing (shots), we had probably more shots today than we had in a lot of games last year, so we really feel good about what we saw today," Oliver added.

Oliver couldn't have asked for a better effort from Howell, a former basketball player, who played in her first soccer game since junior high school. "We're happy with Mara," Oliver said. "We're very happy that she was able to come out and play for us. "We were in a tough position with two keepers being out and having her join up and she came out and stepped up and played very well for us tonight." 

Rio Grande will now head to Cedarville this weekend to compete in the Cedarville Classic. The RedStorm will face the host school at 7 p.m. on Friday. Rio will tangle with Indiana Tech on Saturday at 2 p.m.