The Northern Iowa women’s soccer team got back in the win column on Sunday defeating the Valparaiso Beacons by a score of 4-0. 

The Panther offense got off to a hot start as Lauren Heinsch scored a goal to give the team a 1-0 lead three minutes into the game. 

Just over the 10-minute mark in the first half, The Panthers continued to challenge the Beacon defense with two shots on goal by Olivia Knoepfle and Denise Camarena. Soon after, Maddie Eastus connected on a shot to make it 2-0 Panthers 18 minutes into the period. 

Approaching the halfway point in the period, the Beacons were still held without a shot on goal. The Panther offense continued to have scoring opportunities, as Eastus, Kylie Knief, Haylee Braun, and Heinsch all had shots within a span of five minutes. 

After a missed shot attempt by Eastus,  Knoepfle fired a shot into the net to extend the Panther’s lead to 3-0 late in the first period. With that goal, Knoe Pfle is tied for fifth in program history at 15 career goals. 

The Panther offense picked up right where they left off to start the second half, as Eastus scored her second goal to make it 4-0, Panthers in the lead. 

10 minutes into the second half, Heinsch tried to extend the Panther lead to five but could not connect on her shot attempt. Less than a minute later, The Beacons got their first shot attempt of the game but was caught by goalie Caitlin Richards. 

Approaching the halfway point of the second period, Camarena, Heinsch and Knoepfle all had shot attempts but couldn’t extend the Panther lead. 

The Panthers added three more shot attempts as the Beacons only added one. The Panthers held on to win 4-0. 

The Panthers finished with 23 total shot attempts and one save. The Panthers held the Beacons to only two shot attempts, tied with the fewest allowed attempts in program history. Sunday’s victory improved their record to 6-4-1 and snapped a three-game losing skid. The Panthers will travel to Evansville, Indiana on Oct. 3 to take on the Purple Aces.