GREENSBURG, Pa. – With six minutes left on the clock, senior forward Ashley Ruttencutter escaped her defender along the left end line, drove towards the near post, and then played a dangerous ball across the center of the box to fellow senior Julia Cocozza who shot the ball back across the face of the keeper for the game winning goal.

The score gave Franciscan a 2-1 victory of Pitt-Greensburg, a win that keeps the Lady Barons in the driver seat for a first round bye in the AMCC playoffs.

The game was not always Franciscan's to win, in part because the Bobcats field the same 4-4-3 formation that has worked so well for Franciscan.

"They played a very similar formation to us. That's why it was difficult and it took us the whole first half to adjust to it," Head Coach Clare McBane said. "Coach Aaron suggested a change up in our defensive line which gave us a lot more offensive pressure."

The change Assistant Coach Aaron Kelly implemented for the defense focused on supporting the offense, freeing the forwards for more shots on goal.

"We put our two outside backs in line with our two outside forwards," McBane said. "The defensive change made a huge difference. It gave us a lot more opportunities with the ball on their half of the field."

Ten minutes before half, before the defense could make the adjustment Coach Aaron outlined, the Bobcats scored the first goal of the game, putting them up 1-0 at halftime.

"The goal came off the corner. It deflected, and came bouncing out into the mud and they finished it on an open net," McBane said.

Down at halftime against a team they beat handily in the conference playoffs the year before, the Lady Barons took control of the game from the start of second half.

"They came out really hard in the second half and I'm really proud of them for that," McBane said. "They knew that they would have to fight if they wanted to win this game."

That newfound fight and the new tactical strategy of the FUS defense proved to be more than Greensburg could handle. Barely ten minutes into the second half, junior forward Hannah Cooke out dribbled the Greensburg defense, tying the game 1-1.

"Cooke went one v. one with the keeper and hit the corner of the back of the net. A very beautiful goal," McBane said. "I think the girls also worked harder. They were going for the ball, they were being smarter with their passes and they were effectively swinging the ball a lot better."

With six minutes left, the Cocozza and Ruttencutter tag team that has been so effective for FUS over the last four years gave Franciscan the winning goal.

"It was a very beautiful goal," McBane said. "This player of the game is a tossup between Julia Cocozza and Hannah Cooke. Both played phenomenal games, both of their shots were very high quality shots and they both worked hard all game."

Winning their sixth straight conference game, the Lady Barons are tied for first in the conference standing with two games left in the regular season. If they can maintain that stop, they will earn a bye in the first round of the AMCC Playoffs.

"We're one game closer to home field advantage which is really our goal," McBane said. "With home field advantage you'll have fans, you don't have to travel and you'll be playing on your own field, that you're very comfortable with it. It's definitely quite the advantage."

The Lady Barons will look to move yet another win closer to the goal when they play D'Youville College at home on Saturday, October 25th at 1pm.