STEUBENVILLE, Ohio (Sept. 25) – The Saint Vincent women's soccer season opened its Presidents' Athletic Conference slate in fine fashion, cruising to a 5-1 road win over Franciscan.
 
Six different players recorded at least one point for Saint Vincent (6-1-1, 1-0 PAC), which outshot Franciscan (1-7, 0-1 PAC) and continued its best start to a season since 2012.
 
Jordan Kirkwood led the offensive charge for Saint Vincent by tallying five points, on two goals and one assist. Tanisha Grewal, Giovanna Ferraro and Emma Koller also added goals for the Bearcats, while Madisen Geesaman, Annie Van Horn, Cori Bieber and Brooke Garman all added helpers.
 
Rilyn Warner started and played all 90 minutes in goal for the Bearcats, recording three saves to earn the win.
 
After a scoreless opening 20 minutes of play, the action picked up, with the two teams combining for four goals over the final 24 minutes of the first half.
 
Kirkwood got the scoring started in the 20th minute, corralling a pass from Van Horn and unleashing a blast from the left wing from 25 yards out into the upper 90 to give SVC a 1-0 lead.
 
The Barons answered back with Eva Dexter's breakaway goal in the 30th minute, but just 70 seconds later, the Bearcats grabbed the lead for good. Bieber sent a free kick from midfield into the goal mouth, where Grewal emerged from heavy traffic with the ball, turned, and directed a left-footed shot into the lower corner of the net to make it 2-1.  
 
Saint Vincent added onto the lead in the waning seconds of the first half. With less than 40 seconds left, Warner sent a goal kick to midfield, where Emily Ambrose promptly booted it deep inside the SVC offensive third. Garman won a footrace to the ball in the corner and sent a quick pass toward the goal mouth to Ferraro, who sent it home for her first career goal to up the lead to 3-1 with just three seconds left in the half.
 
The Bearcats kept the momentum coming out of the break. Two minutes into the second half, Kirkwood scored her second goal of the night, blasting home a shot from 20 yards out off of an assist from Geesaman, to make it 4-1.
 
Less than three minutes later, the Bearcats were granted a free kick on the sideline 30 yards out. Bieber lofted the ball toward the goal mouth, where it deflected off the head of Kirkwood and onto the waiting foot of Koller, who tucked it in inside the crossbar to close out the game's scoring.
 
Eight different players were credited with at least one shot for the Bearcats, led by three from Grewal and two apiece by Kirkwood, Ferraro, Koller and Jude Galvin.
 
Along with the 14-7 advantage in shots, the Bearcats also doubled-up the Barons, 4-2, in corner kicks.
 
Saint Vincent will now have a quick turnaround before returning to PAC competition with a 5 p.m. matchup on the road at Thiel College on Friday, Sept. 27.