SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — There's definitely an aesthetic to the style of play of the Bellarmine University women's soccer team, but the Knights went aerial on Friday evening at Illinois Springfield.

Senior midfielder Josie Metzger punched in a header off a pass from senior defender Lexy Hazle in the 87th minute of a 1-0 victory over the Prairie Stars in Great Lakes Valley Conference action.

"That was a very gritty win," Bellarmine Coach Chris Tinius said. "I'm very proud of the way we were able to grind it out. We played very hard the entire game. In the last 25 minutes, we played smarter too and it paid off."

With just under 4 minutes left, Hazle took a corner kick for Bellarmine (11-1-3, 9-1-3 GLVC) and, after the ball was cleared out of the box, she received a pass on the left wing. She then made a splendid serve toward the left of the goal area, and a hard-charging Metzger met the pass in stride and headed it into the net for her second goal of the season, both of which have been game-winners.

"Those were very difficult field conditions to knock the ball around for more than about three passes," Tinius said. "The men's game was 0-0 and I told the girls there probably could have been five games on that field tonight and that might have been the only goal scored. We knew it would take an aerial battle, a slide or something like that if we were going to get one. Lexy served a great ball and Josie sold out to challenge and put it in."

Bellarmine finished with a 13-9 advantage in shots over Illinois Springfield (7-9, 4-9), including 10-6 on frame. Junior goalkeeper Taylor Smith notched the shutout for the Knights and tallied six saves.

Bellarmine hosts McKendree at noon (ET) on Sunday on Senior Day.

"I thought UIS played extremely hard," Tinius said. "We say that every game on the road in this league is a battle. We have a home game Sunday but the rare circumstance of actually traveling to play a home game. McKendree is fighting for a first-round home game too so it should be another grind-it-out type affair."

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