DELAWARE, Ohio – The Ohio Wesleyan University women's soccer team opened up their home schedule on Wednesday night, hosting Franciscan as the start of a seven-game homestand lasting until September 14th. It was a high-scoring first half followed by a brutally physical second half as the Battling Bishops came out on top, 2-1.

OWU advances to 2-1-0 on the young season. Franciscan drops to 0-2-0.

The Red and Black opened the scoring early, with Ava Bruns slotting one past the keeper in the 20th minute to take a 1-0 advantage. It did not take long for Franciscan to tie it up as Eva Dexter scored on a breakaway in the 22nd to make it 1-1. However, Bruns had more in her bag, scoring on a breakaway of her own in the 35th thanks to an assist from Tiffany Trinh. 

Despite plenty of opportunities in a very physical second half, the score would stay the same until the end of the game, 2-1 in favor of the Bishops.

THE NUMBERS
Ohio Wesleyan put up a season-high 32 shots on the night, making the keeper work on 13 of them. On the other end, Franciscan had 12 with four on goal.

Ava Bruns netted her first and second goals of the season. All-in-all the senior forward took eight shots, putting four on net.

Tiffany Trinh recorded her first assist of the season on Bruns' second goal. She also had four shot attempts, sending three of them on target.

Others taking chances were Kaia Vorenkamp (4 SH, 2 SOG), Jordyn Adams (3 SH, 3 SOG), Halle Dacek (2 SH, 1 SOG), Jaye Alexander (4 SH), Avery Curtin (2 SH), Mackenzie Smith (2 SH), Mia Bucci (1 SH), Alex Foster (1 SH), and Jazlyn Brooker (1 SH).

Natalie Ryan (2-1-0) secured her second win of the season, playing the full 90 minutes and making three saves.

UP NEXT
The Bishops will host Hardin-Simmons on Saturday night. Kickoff is set to take place at 7:00 p.m.