CEDARVILLE, Ohio — Junior midfielder Natalie Teo scored in the ninth minute, and the defense of the No. 21 Bellarmine University women's soccer team did a lot of the heavy lifting Tuesday night in preserving a 1-0 win over Cedarville at the Yellow Jacket Soccer Complex.

Sophomore forward Isabella Zamborini assisted on Teo's goal against Cedarville (0-3) for Bellarmine (3-0), which made its road debut and also completed in its final nonconference match of the regular season. All three of the Knights' wins have come by 1-0 scores.

"That was good to get a result against another good team in a game where we were pretty sloppy at times," Bellarmine Coach Chris Tinius said. "We did find a good goal on a set piece with Nat doing a good job of attacking a great service from Izzy."

The connection occurred a little over eight minutes into the contest. Zamborini managed to clear the outstretched arms of Cedarville's leaping goalkeeper on her corner kick, and Teo was there to drive a header into the net for a quick 1-0 lead.

The early score wasn't a sign of things to come in the game. As happened in previous 1-0 wins over then-No. 21 Carson-Newman and Tusculum, Bellarmine couldn't quite deliver an insurance goal despite some excellent opportunities. Cedarville seemed to control possession for much of the second half, but the Knights arguably had the best chance to score when the Yellow Jackets keeper went to the ground for the ball and it squirted away from her before she made a nice recovery and knocked down a would-be goal on an open shot.

The closest Cedarville came to scoring came in the first half. The Yellow Jackets stole the ball near the end line and had a shot inside the box sail just high of the crossbar.

Bellarmine finished with a 15-4 advantage in shots, including 4-1 on frame. Sophomore goalkeeper Elyssa Francis turned back a dangerous free kick inside the final minute, and the Knights' backline was nearly impenetrable as the team notched its third straight shutout.

Cedarville's 0-3 record is deceptive. The Yellow Jackets have played two ranked opponents in Lee and then Bellarmine, and their middle game came against 2018 NCAA Tournament team Rollins. Cedarville dropped its first two matches in overtime sessions.

As Tinius noted after the hard-fought contest, Bellarmine may have had a decisive advantage in the shot count, but the Yellow Jackets applied a lot of pressure that seemed to even things out.

"Cedarville played hard and played well," Tinius said. "I know the stat sheet was in our favor, but the feel of the game didn't necessarily match that. They are living on some hard luck, but they are going to win plenty of games before the year is over."

Bellarmine opens GLVC play at noon (ET) Sunday at Indianapolis.

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