AUSTIN, TX - The fifth-ranked St. Edward's University women's soccer team opened the year with a 2-0 victory over Colorado State-Pueblo Thursday morning at Lewis-Chen Family Field.
 
CSU-Pueblo (0-1) had the first scoring chance in what started as a defensive battle. Goalkeeper Lorrie Santoy came up big in the 35^th minute as she made two-consecutive saves in front of the goal. She managed to stop the point blank shot from Pueblo's Jessica Westhoff and got her hand on the rebound attempt from Katie Stephenson to stop the threat.

St. Edward's (1-0) maintained the bulk of the possession in the first half and finally broke through in the 39^th minute when Whytneigh Duffie scored the first official Division II goal of the year and her first collegiate goal. Duffie's goal was set up by Taylor Settecerri who nudged a header just over the defense allowing Duffie a clear path for the shot.
 
Duffie registered her second goal of the game in the 86th minute after Lauren Heller held the ball in the box and dropped it to Duffie for the goal. Heller managed to fend off multiple defenders allowing Duffie to sneak in on the left side to beat the keeper far post.
 
"We are blessed with a lot of great forwards returning this year, and we have a lot of talented freshmen that will push them," head coach Nick Cowell said. "The internal competition keeps everyone on their toes and provided a great outcome."
 
St. Edward's outshot the Thunderwolves, 20-5. CSU-Pueblo ended the game with 19 fouls, three of which drew yellow cards.
 
The Hilltoppers are 9-0 in season-opening match with Cowell at the helm; outscoring opponents 23-2 under the direction of the England native.
 
The Hilltoppers will prepare for another game this Sunday against Colorado-Colorado Springs. The game will be held at Lewis-Chen Family Field and the opening kick is set for 1:00 p.m. Live video and stats will be available on the Hilltopper Athletic Website.