LEBANON, Ill. — Four matches. Three goalkeepers. Zero scores allowed.

On Friday at McKendree, the No. 18 Bellarmine University women's soccer team continued to play unyielding defense, recording its fourth straight shutout to open the 2015 campaign in a 1-0 victory over the Bearcats in the Knights' Great Lakes Valley Conference opener.

Bellarmine (4-0, 1-0 GLVC) finally broke through in the 84th minute as junior forward Mary Beth Gorham scored off an assist from junior midfielder Lauren Holder. It was the second consecutive 1-0 victory for the Knights, who edged Ohio Dominican on Wednesday.

The quick turnaround against quality opponents — Ohio Dominican received a Division II NCAA Tournament bid last season and McKendree (1-1-1, 0-1) played Bellarmine tough — led BU Coach Chris Tinius to take a jab at himself as he joked that "whoever made that schedule should be fired."

"I'm very proud of the girls tonight, especially the second half," he added. "This was a hard-fought game against a good team just as we expected and as it was last year. Add in the energy we had to expend on Wednesday against Ohio Dominican, and it showed a lot of grit from our players."

Bellarmine did indeed assert itself after the intermission. McKendree racked up a 10-4 advantage in shots before the break, but the Knights held a 7-2 advantage in the second half. The Bearcats ended up with 12 shots to the 11 of BU, but the Knights unloaded six shots on goal to the two of McKendree, which didn't get much going against the Bellarmine defense after halftime.

"McKendree makes things difficult for you," Tinius said. "Claire Skaggs was very good at reading the game in the back. Chelsea Whittaker is a workhorse up top. There were a couple of shaky moments, but I thought our center backs did well to deal with her. Our attacking players were more purposeful after the halftime whistle, and eventually it paid off."

It paid off in the form of Gorham's fourth goal of the season and Holder's third assist. From the right side of the box, Holder dribbled toward the end line and made a superb cross to the center to find an open Gorham, who ripped the game-winner into the net with less than seven minutes left. It was the 27th goal of Gorham's career.

"I challenged Mary Beth and (sophomore forward) Katie (Fernandez) to get a gritty goal in an environment like this, and they pretty much shut me up within 60 seconds of going back on the field at the end of the game," Tinius said.

Sophomore goalie Taylor Smith and senior keeper Erin Ottman combined for the shutout, with each playing one half. Smith collected both of BU's saves.

Bellarmine will host Illinois Springfield at noon (ET) Sunday at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium.

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