NORTHFIELD, Vt.- With the calendar turning to September, the Norwich Women's Soccer team hosted the first home game of the new semester coming away with a 1-0 victory over Vermont State Johnson Friday night at Sabine Field.
 
The Badgers held the upper hand early in the contest, mustering six shots. However, junior goalkeeper Rebecca Karis (Fayetteville, N.C.) answered the bell, making two saves and cutting down every Johnson opportunity. Karis would make three more saves in the second half en route to her first career shutout.
 
The Cadets found their groove as the game progressed. With four minutes remaining, the Norwich pressure generated a corner kick taken by junior Lindsey Duggan (Belmont, N.H.). Off Duggan's foot, the ball found the head of Sam Penacho (New Bedford, Mass.) at the net mouth, into the top left corner of the net and securing a season opening victory for the Cadets, the first in Head Coach Jared Cipriano's career.
 
"It didn't always go how we wanted," Cipriano said. "But the team worked hard, and fought through that game, fighting to get a goal with four minutes left after giving up a lot of good quality chances. It shows a lot of character from the team and I'm really proud of them for the result tonight."
 
Norwich will look to keep rolling Sunday afternoon when they play host to Vermont State Castleton at 1 PM.