ERIE, Pa. – One strong half was enough to keep the No. 7 Gannon women's soccer team unbeaten on Saturday.
 
Coach Colin Petersen's Golden Knights took a two-goal lead in the first half and emerged with a 2-1 victory over California (Pa.) on Saturday at McConnell Family Stadium.
 
Gannon improved to 10-0-3 overall and 7-0-3 in the PSAC West. The Knights lead the PSAC West with 24 points, while IUP and Slippery Rock are tied for second with 21 points. Cal dropped 3-10-2 and 2-8-1.
 
Senior forward/midfielder Gabby Boden (Butler, Pa./Butler) led Gannon with a goal and an assist.
 
Grace Emanuel (Erie, Pa./McDowell) opened the scoring with a goal just 7:24 into the game off an assist from Boden. It was Emanuel's eighth goal of the season.
 
Boden gave GU a 2-0 cushion at the 31:03 mark when she scored off a pass from Brooklyn Respecki (McKean, Pa./General McLane), who earned the assist on the play.
 
Cal's Bella Gilberto scored her first goal of the season for Cal at the 58:46 mark to trim the lead to 2-1. The score remained that way the rest of the way.
 
Gannon continued to outshoot opponents by a wide margin as the Knights have 26 shots to Cal's two. Gannon also had a 10-2 edge in shots on goal.
 
 
What's ahead:
 
Gannon will host Slippery Rock in a key PSAC West game on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at McConnell Family Stadium.