GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - The Newberry College women's soccer team traveled to Tusculum College for a matchup between two top South Atlantic Conference teams, but the scarlet and gray fell to the Pioneers, 1-0.

Newberry (8-3-1, 3-1-1 SAC) allowed only one goal to Tusculum (10-3-0, 3-1-0 SAC), a second half score to Tusculum's Courtney Turner that would hold as the only goal of the game.

Newberry fell short in total shots, 18 to 13, but put more shots on goal than the Pioneers, with an eight to five advantage. Laura Mottel (North Augusta, S.C.) and Ashley Reetz (Summerville, S.C.) led Newberry with three shots each.

Newberry registered its first shot in the 21st minute, when Ashley Reetz launched an attempt from inside the penalty area that Tusculum goalkeeper Marjaana Kaaresvirta kept out of the net.

The scarlet and gray would tally four shots in the first half, three of which were on goal. Tusculum answered with seven shots of its own, but the Newberry defense held and goalkeeper Emily Rhoades (Buckley, Wash.) made two saves in the first stanza to keep Tusculum off the board. The two teams entered halftime tied, 0-0.

Newberry began the second half looking to take a quick lead, with Katie Sas (Columbia, S.C.) looking for a score 47 seconds into the period, but Kaaresvirta kept the game scoreless with a save on the shot.

The back-and-forth nature of the match continued as each team looked for the go-ahead goal, but Tusculum broke through first with a goal in the 73rd minute. Courtney Turner took a shot from the top of the penalty area that bent inside the far post and put Tusculum on top, 1-0.

Newberry looked for an equalizer on shots from Sara Griffith (Marietta, Ga.), Laura Mottel, Katie Sas and Megan Douglas (Bradford, West Yorkshire, England), but not one could find the back of the net and the game ended with Tusculum ahead, 1-0.

Goalkeeper Emily Rhoades made five saves in the match and her record moves to 8-3-1.

Despite the loss, Newberry remains in first place in the SAC standings with 10 points.

Newberry will look to rebound when the team heads to Anderson University for a nonconference matchup against the Trojans on Wednesday, October 7. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.