PARKERSBURG - Parkersburg South led 1-0 after Samara Nunn's goal from 19 yards out in the first half, getting the shot past University goalkeeper Lizzy Edwards in the upper left corner of the net. The Patriots, however, nearly had their slim lead equalized in the game's final 10 minutes. South junior goalkeeper Kendal Mader wouldn't allow it, making two key saves in succession to keep the Hawks out of the goal and give South a 1-0 win in its season opener Tuesday night at Erickson All-Sports Facility. University's (1-1-0) first of two chances occurred from a corner kick with eight minutes to go. Fighting for control of the ball along the touchline versus South junior defender Samantha Martin, University center-forward Madison Wesolowsky was able to get the ball to bounce off Martin for University's third corner of the game. University's Morgan Ryan whipped it into the box from the right flag post and Mader came out trying to pull the cross in. The ball landed in a sea of Patriots and Hawks, bouncing around until Mader made the save from a University shot and cleared it. Mader and the Patriot (1-0-0) defense didn't have much time to breathe, as the Hawks continued to apply pressure, quickly regaining possession and launching a counter-attack. The Hawks placed a through ball to sweeper Isabella Bowers just outside of the box on the left side, finding just an opening in South defense. Bowers sent a rocket to the upper right post but Mader was there to make the save, swatting it over the post for a corner kick. Ryan once again took the corner for the Hawks, sending far away from the keeper and landing near Bowers, who's shot went over goal and secured the win for the Patriots. "I was very nervous because I hadn't had much action prior to that. So I was like, 'Oh, shoot, I gotta get on my game, get ready and make the save,'" Mader said. "I obviously had confidence in my teammates to get it out of there. And that's obviously what we did. When you're in goal, you feel it. You have to dive, all your adrenaline comes out. So I just go for it, let whatever happens. I don't really think about it much." South started with possession in the first half and quickly started attacking the Hawks' defense. Sophomore Karleigh Dowler attempted the first shot for South, getting Edwards to come out and make a play, but the ball went out of play. South continued to apply to pressure minutes later, as Nunn had a nice through ball in the direction of senior midfielder Jessica Life, but Life collided with Edwards. At the 28-minute mark, University started to get things going on the offensive end, capitalizing on a mistake by South freshman defender Cameron Limer, misplaying the ball and heading it backwards near the right corner flag post. University's Sam Rechter capitalized on the miscue by gaining possession of the ball, but quickly gave it back to South after her cross landed out of bounds. "Yeah, it's tough when your opener is against one of the top teams in the state. So overall, I'm pleased with how the girls performed. We had some injuries. We were playing a little bit short-handed. We didn't have the depth that we were hoping to and it kind of showed at the end. We got a little tired at the end," South head coach Ron Bucholtz said. "The girls did a great job with the effort and maintaining their focus for the most part. We could do better managing the clock at the end of the game when you're leading 1-0, but we'll work on that. If Kendal hadn't come up with three or four beautiful saves in the end, we could have been in big trouble there." South's next game is hosting John Marshall at 6 p.m. Thursday Contact Tyler Bennett at tbennett@newsandsentinel.com at Erickson All-Sports Facility Parkersburg South girls 1, University 0 UHS (1-1-0) 0 0- 0 PSHS (1-0-0) 1 0 -1 S: Samara Nunn, assist Karleigh Dowler 10th mintue Shots: S 10, U 9; Keeper saves: S (Kendal Mader) 9, U (Lizzy Edwards) 9; Corner kicks: S 0, U 4 Next match: Parkersburg South at John Marshall at 6 p.m. Thursday.