LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Senior Day got off to a sensational start. It ended in triumph as well.

On Sunday at Owsley B. Frazier Stadium, the Bellarmine University women's soccer team scored 35 seconds into the match, and the Knights rolled from there in collecting a 3-0 victory over Drury in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Senior midfielder Madison Stephens tallied that goal inside the opening minute for Bellarmine (9-4-3, 7-2-3 GLVC), while freshman forward Isabella Zamborini and senior midfielder Audrey Van Der Elst scored as well. Van Der Elst added an assist against Drury (0-15-1, 0-12), as did sophomore forward Natalie Teo and senior forward Jordan Chlebowy.

"That was a very good performance on Senior Day with a great start from a senior scoring in the first minute," Bellarmine Coach Chris Tinius said. "We said this shouldn't be a goodbye — it should be a thank you. And the best way to do that is to get them another home game in the (GLVC) Tournament, (which goes to the top 4 seeds). We got a step closer to that today."

Before the match was even a minute old, Bellarmine grabbed a 1-0 lead. From the right side of the box, Van Der Elst crossed toward the center for Teo, who immediately tapped to Stephens. She beat a defender to the ball just inside the goal area and poked it into the net for her third goal of the season.

It took a while but Bellarmine tacked on one more goal before halftime. In the 36th minute, Chlebowy found Zamborini in the left side of the box. She made a hard cut right and fired a shot inside the far post for her fourth goal of the season.

Bellarmine took that 2-0 advantage into halftime and added one more goal in the second half. Van Der Elst had some good fortune on a corner kick in the 65th minute, as it caromed off a defender and into the net. It was Van Der Elst's sixth goal of the season, and the assist she posted earlier was her fourth helper.

"I thought we were pretty purposeful in the attack," Tinius said. "Two good goals in the first half. You create enough pressure, and sometimes you get a fortunate one like we did in the second half."

Sophomore goalkeeper Elyssa Francis and the defense notched their fourth straight shutout and ninth overall. Bellarmine finished with a 22-1 advantage in shots.

"I thought we were a little off with some things defensively that could have been exposed and will be down the road if we don't clean them up," Tinius said. "But to our kids' credit, they recovered well, still limited the shots taken and kept another clean sheet."

Bellarmine will host Indianapolis at 3:55 p.m. (ET) Wednesday in its regular-season finale.

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