LEAVENWORTH, Kan – The St. Mary University Spires women's soccer team secured a 3-1 win against the Graceland University Yellowjackets on Saturday, August 31st in Leavenworth.

The Spires set the pace early with two first-half goals. Rebecca Lord found the net in the 12th minute, assisted by Sadie Dipman-Hayward.

Graceland responded with an equalizer only three minutes later as Florencia Campodonic scored off an assist from Angelika Laginova, making the score 1-1.

GU was unable to hold the Spires before the end of the first half relinquishing the lead in the 33rd minute when Josie Hallier put the Spires up for good, 2-1.

St. Mary sealed the win in the second half with Lord's second goal of the match in the 79th minute.

Graceland head coach Randall Porter acknowledged the challenges his team faced. "Today was a rough game on our part. We struggled to get anything going attacking wise," he said.

Porter emphasized the need for improvement despite seeing positives. "For the second straight match we made some costly mistakes and while that's typical of a young team, we need to start cleaning some of the mistakes up," he stated. "Still, there was plenty of positive today. We are still .500 at 2-2-1 and have a week to get healthy and prepare before our next match."

Graceland (2-2-1) will return to action on September 7th in Lamoni, hosting The College of St. Mary (NE) at 3pm.

Stay tuned to GUjackets.com for continuing coverage of the Graceland women's soccer team and all of Jacket athletics.