PHILADELPHIA – The HFU women's soccer team battled with nationally-ranked West Chester in its season-opener on Thursday evening at Tiger Field.  
 
The match was tied 0-0 at halftime and after two Golden Rams goals in the first 21 minutes of the second, Lexi Murphy (Woolwich Township, N.J./Kingsway Regional (Saint Francis U)) cut the deficit in half when she got on the end of an Allison Loper (Bensalem, Pa./Nazareth Academy (Georgian Court)) corner kick in the 74th. 
 
Holy Family could not find threaten in the final 16 minutes though, eventually succumbing to a 1-2 final. 
 
Both teams took three corner kicks, with West Chester holding a slight 13-16 edge in shots in a back-and-forth match. 
 
Maura Kilkenny (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Little Flower) notably had double the amount of attempts as any other player with six. 
 
Both teams had one shot on goal in the opening 45 minutes, with the Golden Rams having an attempt cleared off the line in the 23rd before Gyzell Rowan (Levittown, Pa./Neshaminy) found the frame in the 43rd. 
 
Jaina Preuhs (Brookhaven, Pa./Sun Valley) made her first save just under three minutes out of the break, before West Chester broke through in the 52nd.
 
Preuhs made back-to-back stops just over a minute later, but the Golden Rams made it 0-2 in the 66th despite the previous four shots coming from HFU.
 
The Tigers continued to push with the next four attempts, including Bridget Dickson (Somerdale, N.J./Sterling) forcing a stop, before Loper's corner found Murphy at the back-post. 
 
In addition to Rowan and Dickson, Carly Fox (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy (Penn State Berks)), Katelyn Perazzola (Warner Robins, Ga./Mount de Sales Academy) and Jessica Wojnar (Cinnaminson, N.J./Holy Cross Preparatory Academy) all made their HFU debuts on the night. 

Holy Family takes a week off before traveling to St. Thomas Aquinas next Thursday.