ST. LOUIS — Following the Bellarmine University women's soccer team's match with Maryville on Sunday afternoon, an explanation for what he witnessed eluded Knights Coach Chris Tinius.

"I have no idea how we won that," he said.

Of course, the operative word in that statement is "won" and a lack of reasons for it doesn't change that fact. Bottom line: The No. 19 Knights headed back from St. Louis with a 2-1 victory over the Saints in Great Lakes Valley Conference action in tow.

"They say it's the sign of a good team to win when you don't play your best, so we'll cling to that," Tinius said.

Senior forward Darcy Egan and sophomore forward Katie Fernandez scored first-half goals for Bellarmine (14-1-2, 11-1-2 GLVC), which remained atop the conference standings with one match left. The Knights, who will look to close out a regular season title on Wednesday against Southern Indiana, are one win shy of tying the program record for GLVC victories and two shy of tying the mark for overall victories.

Junior midfielder Lauren Holder collected an assist against a Maryville unit (6-7-3, 5-6-3) battling to secure a berth in the eight-team GLVC Tournament.

"Maryville played harder than us for most of the game," Tinius said. "They played with more thought and attention to their game plan. I know they were fighting to get in the tournament, and I feel bad that the result today may keep them out."

Bellarmine was coming off a tense 2-2 tie with Missouri-St. Louis following equally demanding matches with Truman State and Quincy — those three teams along with the Knights comprise the top quarter of the GLVC. Like it did against the Tritons, BU scored two goals in the first half versus the Saints.

The Knights went ahead relatively quickly as Egan received a cross from Holder and put away her third goal of the season in the 12th minute. The assist marked Holder's team-best seventh of the season.

After Maryville tied the match roughly three minutes later on a Bellarmine own goal, the Knights responded when Fernandez chipped a shot from 20 yards out over the Maryville goalkeeper and into the net for a 2-1 lead in the 22nd minute. Fernandez scored for the second straight match and has three goals this season.

That turned out to be it for the scoring. Bellarmine totaled six shots, with half coming on frame. Four of Maryville's nine shots were on goal.

"Credit Darcy and Katie for two quality finishes against the flow of play in the first half to get us the win," Tinius said. "The last 15-20 minutes it looked a bit like soccer again from us. Beyond that, you write it off as one of those days and move on."

Sophomore goalie Taylor Smith and junior keeper Hannah Poteet split halves for Bellarmine and combined for three saves.

Bellarmine concludes the regular season by hosting USI at 3:55 p.m. (ET) on Wednesday at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

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