INDIANAPOLIS – The Marian women's soccer team kicked off its spring slate Tuesday night with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Aquinas (Mich.). The Knights win marks the team's fourth win in a row dating back to the fall as Marian moves to 15-1-0 on the combined season.

The showdown started slow, neither team having a clear look at net early. In the eight minute, Alexis Patenaude had her first opportunity for a save and pulled in the shot off a well-placed ball on the ground. Patenaude made another save a minute later to keep the game at a stalemate.

Marian responded by charging down the pitch and taking a shot. In the 16^th minute, Brittney Zendejas was given a cross-pass across the face of the goal and the senior put a toe on the ball nearing slipping the shot past the diving Saints' goalkeeper. The good look was to no prevail as Braleigh McCoy deflected the shot away from the Saints' net.

The Knights kept up the pressure as Drew Mason came in off the bench and struck a hard shot from 15 yards out off the crossbar nearly dropping in behind McCoy.

Neither team was able to get another good look at net until the Saints charged down the pitch in transition and squeezed off a shot from the side of the net causing Patenaude to dive for the save. The 41^st minute save kept the game knotted up and the two teams headed into the halftime break at 0-0.

Marian out-shot the Saints 11-5 in the first half but were unable to find the back of the net. Out of the 11 shots, only one was on target.

Coming back from halftime, both teams raised the intensity. In the 58^th minute, the Knights fired off three shots within 30 seconds of each other but none were able to slip by the Saints defense. A Jacelyn Smith shot ended the barrage with another save by McCoy.

The 68^th minute saw another showdown between Smith and McCoy with the keeper making another save to preserve the tied-up score.

Finally, the Marian offense broke through. With just over 10 minutes to go in the contest, Madison Deckard found Mackenzie Hall with a cross as Hall put the ball in the back of the net to score the Knights' first goal of the evening.

The stalemate-breaking goal is Hall's first of the season and first career game-winner. This also marked Deckard's first career assist.

The Knights were able to run out the clock and prevent any looks on goal for the Saints. Marian clinched the 1-0 victory as Patenaude emerged with the keeper victory and clean sheet.

Smith led the Knights in shot attempts, firing off four and landing two on goal. Chloe Ulmer, Siera Stuart, Alex David, Hall, and Mason squeezed off two shots apiece while Allie Schlom fired off three.

The Knights shot 20 times and landed seven on goal. The Knights' defense kept Aquinas to just seven shot attempts while only getting three shots on net. Marian also logged five corner kicks to Aquinas's zero.

The Knights look to carry the momentum to their next game as they host IU East Friday night at 7 p.m.