GAMBIER, Ohio – The Kenyon College women's soccer team fell behind early Thursday and wound up dropping their second-straight season opener to the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears. The host Ladies did manage to halve a two-goal deficit, but the Polar Bears held on for the 2-1 non-conference road win.

The Ohio Northern defense limited the Kenyon attack throughout the game. The one time the Ladies did break through was in the game's 30th minute. Senior Maggie Smith controlled the ball just outside of the Ohio Northern box. She then laced a shot from the right side that carried into the upper left corner of the net.

Smith, who led Kenyon with nine goals last season, now has 26 career goals. That total puts her in a tie with Maura Connolly '94 for the sixth-best career mark in program history.

Before Smith could score, the Polar Bears already placed two on the board. At the 14:37 mark, Sarah Puntel shuffled a quick pass to her right. Haley Moses, standing in the middle of the Kenyon box, was there to boot it by Kenyon freshman goalkeeper Maria Paparella.

Roughly 14 minutes later, Abbey Oswald and Shelby Stephens connected to double the Polar Bears' lead. Stephens fired a shot from outside the box. It found its way to Oswald who redirected it into the Kenyon net.

Ohio Northern, a team that defeated Kenyon 1-0 in last year's season-opener, tallied up an 11-4 advantage in shots Thursday.

Paparella played the first half of the game and made three saves for Kenyon. Another freshman, Jillian Countey, played the second half and made two saves without yielding a goal. Paparella faced a total of seven ONU shots, while Countey got a look at four.

The Ladies will learn from the loss and move on to face Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology for a 3 p.m. game Saturday in Terre Haute, Indiana.