Charleston, WV -- The defense clamped down and freshman Ella Fadale (Brockport, N.Y.) scored twice as the Gannon University women's soccer team beat the University of Charleston 2-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Welch Athletic Complex.

The Golden Knights improved to 1-1 as they ended a season-opening, two-game road trip to West Virginia. On Thursday, Gannon rallied from a two-goal deficit to tie the score before losing a heartbreaking 3-2 game against No. 12-ranked Concord.

Charleston dropped to 0-2.

On Saturday, the head coach Colin Petersen divided the goalkeeping duties between Morgan Sinan (Cranberry Twp., Pa./Seneca Valley) in the first half and Jordan August (Morgantown, W. Va./Morgantown) and Kennedy Solymosi (Eastlake, Ohio/Lake Catholic) in the second as the Gannon defense played well in front of them. Solymosi had three of Gannon's saves and August had the other.

The game was scoreless for most of the first half, but Gannon finally broke through when Logan Nicklas (Allison Park, Pa./Hampton) sent a well-stuck crossing pass to Fadale, who headed the ball from in close into the right side of the goal at the 41:35 mark of the half. It was the first collegiate goal for the freshman midfielder.

The Knights struck again midway through the second half when Abby Boden found Fadale with a beautiful crossing pass. Fadale moved in tight and kicked the ball into the lower left side of the goal at the 73:10 mark.

Gannon outshot Charleston 13-7 and had a 5-4 edge in shots on goal.

"It was the second game of a tough road trip," Petersen said. "The girls showed a lot of character. We head home now to prepare for Slippery Rock."

Gannon will play its home opener on Wednesday, Aug. 31, when it hosts Slippery Rock at McConnell Family Stadium.