ERIE, Pa. – The Penn St.-Behrend Lions used a pair of second-half goals to lift the Lions to a 3-0 win over the Franciscan women's soccer team, Saturday afternoon.

Penn St.-Behrend controlled most of the play in the first half and just past the midway point, scored the first goal to take a 1-0 lead. Franciscan got its first shot off as Beth Flanagan's shot went wide of the net with 19 minutes to play, but the Lady Barons struggled to get offensive momentum.

"Honestly, I don't think we played our best soccer today but that is encouraging," remarked head coach Clare McBane. "We didn't play our best which means we can still get better these next two games. Hannah Doyle's absence in the middle of the field was clear and I think our endurance let up a little bit in the second half. It is a big change from playing on our grass field to turf, especially on a field that is bigger than ours. It's just a tough adjustment."

Following the halftime break, the Lions were able to put two more goals on the board to seal the 3-0 victory while the Lady Barons were able to only able to get one shot off.

Junior keeper Sarah Luebking had another solid day in goal for Franciscan, despite giving up three goals, as she made six stops and controlled the Lady Baron backline.

"Having a goalie that you know is anchoring your defense really creates a lot of confidence for your team," continued Coach McBane. "Sarah had some phenomenal stops today and really made [the Lions] work for every goal they got."

Following the match, the coaches named Clare Kennedy the Player of the Match for her ability to create offense for the Lady Barons and to help Franciscan possess the ball.

"Clare subbed in halfway through the first and we really saw a change in the attack," complimented Coach McBane. "She helped us be able to possess and move the ball around instead of chase it. Clare gave us more opportunities to get some chances on offense, instead of just sitting back on defense."

The Lady Barons look to rebound as they host Penn St.-Altoona on Wednesday in the final regular season home game at 4:15 pm.

"Going into Altoona, our main focus is to come out aggressively and to play with intensity from the beginning and to stay intense until the end of the game," remarked Coach McBane. "We need to build and finish those opportunities we create on goal."