It took a little less than 15 minutes for the Panther Women to beat Meredith College at home Wednesday night, but they played the rest of the game anyway.

At the 14:47 mark in the first half, Ashlynn Mitcham took a cross in the air at the top of the six-yard box from Jamie Adams and volleyed the pass past the Meredith keeper for the only score of the game from either team.

“That was one of the prettiest goals we created,” said Head Coach Erin Saleeby.

For the rest of the game, the Panthers’ back line held the Avenging Angels to five shots–only three of those on frame. Sophomore goal keeper Ashli Wuss was credited with all three saves.

Even with the win, Saleeby was not entirely satisfied with the outcome.

“We played down to the opponent,” she said. “Consistency has to be something that we focus on. We are playing to the level of our opponents. We played really well on Saturday (against Southern Virginia), and then we come in and don’t perform well against a team we should have easily beaten.”

On the evening, the Panthers took 17 shots–eight of them on goal.

“We didn’t create much,” Saleeby said. “We didn’t make her (the Meredith keeper) make many saves.”

Saleeby said to take it to the next level, players need to take extra time to view films and get extra touches outside of practice.

“We can’t just show up for practice and practice every day and expect to get any better. So they have to put work in for themselves. The more times that you take a cross out of the air, whether it’s in practice or extra touches, the better you are going to be able to receive a cross out of the air. It’s about muscle memory, but it’s also about confidence. If you work on turning in front of the goal, when you get in the game and find yourself in front of the goal, you can perform. It’s things like that they need to be able to get.”

The Panthers’ next game will be Saturday at William Peace University in Raleigh.