Playing one player down for nearly 55 minutes, the No. 8 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater women's soccer team suffered their first loss of the season, 1-0, at the hands of top-ranked Washington-St. Louis (Mo.) Sunday at Fiskum Field in Whitewater. UW-W drops to 4-1-2 this season while WashU remains unbeaten at 6-0. From the start, there was no doubt the match was going to be intense. WashU was whistled for a foul in the first two minutes of play resulting in a free kick for the Warhawks about 25 yards from the goal. Marie Lesperance (Waukesha, Wis./Waukesha South), yesterday's game-winning goal scorer, took the kick and sent it just above the cross bar and out of play. After the teams traded corners, WashU gained a bit of momentum with three consecutive shots in a three and a half minute span. The first shot hit the crossbar and the other two were saved by sophomore keeper Sara Klimisch (Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Indian Trail High School and Academy), the second of which she made with a diving stop to her right. The Bears put another shot on net in the 23rd minute that Klimisch stopped but the remainder of the first half featured no shots or corners. A red card near the end of the first half forced the Warhawks to play a person down for the rest of the match. Klimisch continued her solid net play in the second half as WashU came out firing. Klimisch mades saves in the 47th, 52nd, 58th, 60th and 63rd minutes to keep the Bears off the board. Leah Nehila (Round Lake, Ill./Grant Community) saw an opportunity to set up a teammate in the 65th minute but her cross from right to left landed in front of the back side of the goal and no one was able to knock it in. In the 81st minute, the Bears connected on some nice passing the resulted in the lone goal of the match. Freshman midfielder Katy Kusswurm (South Elgin, Ill./St. Charles North) had an opportunity to tie the game less than one minute later, but her shot missed wide left. Anna Boyd (De Pere, Wis./De Pere) gained possession around midfield in the 86th minute and dribbled all the way to left side of the penalty box, but her shot was stopped by Bear goalkeeper Emma Greenfield. Klimisch finished the match with ten saves, tying a career high from two matches a season ago. The physical match featured 22 fouls, 17 on the visiting Bears. Head Coach Ryan Quamme was proud of his team, despite the result. "I thought our effort was great, it's hard to play WashU any time, let alone being down one person." Up next, the Warhawks will host North Central on Wednesday, September 20 in a match beginning at 7 p.m.