Charleston, S.C. – The Citadel women's soccer team remained undefeated in three home games this season following a 2-1 victory over crosstown rival Charleston Southern on Sunday at WLI Field.

The Bulldogs evened their record at 2-2-1 and knocked off the Buccaneers for the third time in the past four years, trimming CSU's lead in the all-time series to 5-3-1. CSU saw its three-game winning streak come to an end.

Last weekend the Bulldogs defeated Jacksonville State and played to a tie against Canisius at WLI Field. The three-game unbeaten streak is the longest for The Citadel winning four straight games late in the 2010 season.

The Citadel earned the victory with 11:34 remaining in the game when Mariana Garcia finished a play that was started by passes from Andrea Davila and Montana Hinson to score her fifth goal of the season. Garcia is the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week after scoring four goals in the two games last week.

The Bulldogs scored the opening goal of the game for the first time this season when Ruth Leiva knocked in a pass from Jillian Meyer with 14:13 remaining in the first half. The goal was the first of the season for someone other than Garcia and sixth of Leiva's career while the assist was Meyer's third of the season.

CSU tied it up with 14 minutes expired in the second half on a goal by Chelsea Frankeny. But the Bulldog defense, led by goalkeeper Naomi Carter, kept the Buccaneers off the board the rest of the way. Carter recorded eight saves in the game and has a goals against average of 0.93 over the past three games.

"It's always great to get a win at home and even better when you beat your hometown rival at home," said Leiva. "We went in with a mindset that we needed a win, and I'm so glad we got it.

"I've been wanting to score, and I knew today was my day. I'm so happy I got the ball in the back of the net."

The Citadel finished with a 21-18 advantage in shots, but CSU goalkeeper Dana McLaughlin kept her team in the game with 12 saves including eight in the second half when the Bulldogs outshot the Buccaneers 14-9. CSU took four corner kicks to three for the Bulldogs.

The Citadel is back in action on Friday with a road game at Presbyterian at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs return to WLI Field on Sept. 18 against Winthrop in the final game before the start of SoCon play at Furman on Sept. 27.

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