HANNIBAL -- By the time the Marshall girls' soccer team got its defensive act together Saturday, it was down two goals.

The Lady Owls played better the rest of the way, but couldn't catch up to defending NCMC champion during a 2-1 road loss.

The Lady Pirates (1-0, 1-0 NCMC) unloaded 17 shots on goal, 11 during the first half. While senior goalkeeper Xochitl Ruiz came up with 15 saves, there were two she couldn't stop -- an open blast from the top of the penalty box by senior Chelsea Reutenauer midway through the first half and a drive through three defenders by senior Elise Bensman, who set Hannibal's school scoring record last year, during the final minute of the period.

"We had trouble containing Reutenauer. She had five shots in the first half, although they were fairly long," admitted MHS head coach Josh Posegate. "The defense became a little more tight in the second half."

Marshall broke through in the 20th minute of the second half, when freshman Shelby McCoy followed her corner kick to the edge of the box -- intercepting an attempted clearing kick and slamming it into the net. However, junior 'keeper Whitney Voepel blanked the Lady Owls (0-2, 0-1) the rest of the way.

"We're making progress," Posegate said. "We have to finish some of these games off eventually."

Marshall will on its home pitch Wednesday for a non-conference match against St. Paul of Concordia.