Second half PK lifts Rio women past Trailblazers

Rio Grande Sports Information
     CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio - The University of Rio Grande enjoyed a commanding advantage in overall shots, yet only managed one goal in Thursday's River States Conference women's soccer matchup against Ohio Christian University.
     Fortunately, one goal happened to be enough.
     Jitske De Muijnk's penalty kick goal just over two minutes into the second half snapped a scoreless tie and lifted the RedStorm to a 1-0 triumph at the OCU Soccer Complex.
     Rio Grande improved to 3-7-2 overall and 3-1-1 in conference play with the win - its third victory in the last four outings.
     The host Trailblazers fell to 4-8 overall and 2-3 inside the RSC.
     Rio Grande outshot OCU, 22-2, including 10-2 in shots on frame, but managed only the PK from De Muijnk - a freshman from Nijmegen, The Netherlands - with 42:50 left to play.
     Ohio Christian, whose shot deficiency included a 15-1 deficit in the second half, managed their only attempt with 10:07 left to play, but Rio freshman Aina Lopez (Barcelona, Spain) came up with the stop on Lizzie Groom's kick.
     Lopez finished with two saves in the victory.
     OCU net-minder Danica Hanschu had eight saves in the loss, but kept her team in the contest by recording six of the stops after De Muijnk's go-ahead goal.
     Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Saturday when it hosts West Virginia University-Tech for a 3:15 p.m. kickoff at Evan E. Davis Field.