Coming off a 2-1 loss against Southwestern Missouri, the Emporia State soccer team defeated Augustana 2-1 in their home opener yesterday at the ESU Pitch.

“We came out strong, and I thought it was pretty even in the first half,” said head coach Bryan Sailer. “But I thought our chances were more dangerous than theirs.”

Starting at 2 p.m., the women battled through the heat, leading 1-0 in the first half. Freshman Mindi Lozenski scored the second goal for the Hornets in the second half, making a header off the corner, assisted by Ashleigh Harris. That was Lozenski’s first goal of the season.

“The second goal was huge,” Sailer said. “But I thought on the same hand they relaxed after the second goal… we did and we paid for it. We had to sweat that one out, but you would rather be up than down.”

An accidental ball kicked into the wrong goal gave Augustana’s their only point of the game, but the girls where able to maintain their lead for the last 30 minutes of the game through good defense.

“Our defense is really strong,” said freshman forward Sarah Crawford. “We just had to stay together and communicate at the end.”

After only winning three games last season, the Lady Hornets are back on track, starting off the season 2-1-0.

“I think we started out really well, it only being our third game together,” said sophomore defender Ashlyn Parker. “It was really intense and really physical. I actually got a yellow card so that was exciting, but we still need to work on our corners and possessing and just attacking the goal.”

The Hornets will travel to Fayette, Iowa on Sept. 9 to face off against Upper Iowa University.