ERIE, Pa. - A pair of Justine Rodrigues (Georgetown, Ontario/Georgetown District) second-half goals rallied the Gannon women's soccer team to a 2-1 victory against 17th-ranked Edinboro Wednesday night at Gannon University Field, giving head coach Colin Petersen a nice birthday present.

Celebrating his 41st birthday, Petersen watched his team rally from a 1-0 halftime deficit to defeat one of its local rivals. Rodrigues ignited the burst when she was fouled dribbling through the box in the 59th minute. The freshman midfielder was granted a penalty kick and converted into the upper right corner for her second goal of the season. The shot represented the Lady Knights' first of the second half at the time.

Gannon seemed to have the momentum after the score, seemingly gaining an extra burst of energy. The Lady Knights had several good scoring chances during the next 11 minutes. Ashley Oluschak (Butler, Pa./Butler) headed a ball wide in the 62nd minute, before Amanda Sharbaugh (Sarver, Pa./Knoch) sailed a rocket shot wide in the 65th minute and nailed the crossbar in the 70th minute.

Rodrigues then struck again in the 72nd minute, accounting for her second game-winning goal of the season. Katie Urban's (Columbia Station, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) corner kick bounced off an Edinboro defender and directly to Rodrigues, who rifled a shot past the goalkeeper into the upper right corner again.

Gannon continued the pressure after gaining the upper hand, out-shooting Edinboro 4-1 during the next 10 minutes. The Fighting Scots did get two more shots off in the final eight minutes, but both attempts sailed wide.

Edinboro drew first blood in the first half on Jenna Madison's first goal of the season in the 37th minute. The junior finished a pass from Becca Costello for the contest's first score. The goal culminated a barrage of four consecutive shots by the Fighting Scots in the span of two minutes and 22 seconds.

Wednesday's fierce battle was played on even terms for the majority of the night as both teams managed to take 16 shots each. The Lady Knights held a 6-2 edge in corner kicks and posted a 12-8 difference in fouls. Maggie Brinkman (Clarence Center, N.Y./Clarence) recorded a career-high nine saves while picking up her fourth victory of the season in goal.

Gannon, ranked 10th in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Atlantic regional rankings, improved to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) with the victory. In addition to being 2-0-2 against the Fighting Scots in the last four matches of the all-time series, the Lady Knights are off to their best five-match start since beginning the 2008 campaign with the same record. Edinboro suffered its first defeat of the season, dropping to 4-1 overall and 2-1 in conference play. The Fighting Scots are ranked 17th in NCAA Division II and third in the region.

Petersen's crew returns to action Saturday, September 17 at Clarion. The PSAC match-up is scheduled for 1 p.m.

For a complete box score from Wednesday's Gannon-Edinboro women's soccer match, please click here.