EDWARDSVILLE – Zoe Stepanski (Dallas, PA/Dallas) scored eleven minutes into the second half to break open a scoreless game and the Wilkes University defense held strong to post its first Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victory of the season 1-0 over visiting DeSales University Saturday afternoon at Schmidt Stadium.
 
Wilkes improved to 4-8 overall and earned its first MAC Freedom win of 2017 standing at 1-2. DeSales dropped to 8-4 overall and suffered its first conference defeat moving to 2-1 on the season.
 
Stepanski notched her third goal of the season at the 46:39 mark of the second half which proved to be all the offense needed to preserve the home conference victory. She collected a penalty corner from Megan Kane (Kingston, PA/Wyoming Valley West) and deposited the shot into the left corner of the cage for the lone goal of the contest.
 
The Wilkes defense held strong throughout the second half when DeSales sent several offensive surges to the cage. Dallas Kendra (Mountaintop, PA/Crestwood) finished with five saves to record her eighth career shutout, tying her for third on the school's all-time list with Margo Serafini '86.
 
Wilkes gets back into non-conference play Wednesday traveling to Chester, Pa. for a matchup against Widener University at 7:00 p.m.