Box Score SAN RAFAEL, Calif. —  With the sun in their eyes and the wind in their faces in the second half, Julianna Bratsberg, Megan Herring and the Dominican University of California women's soccer team recorded a 1-0 Pacific West Conference victory over rival Academy of Art University on Thursday at Kennelly Field in the John F. Allen Athletics Complex.

Bratsberg scored the game-winning goal with 32:30 remaining and Herring, who is third in the nation in NCAA Division II in save percentage, protected it in goal as the Lady Penguins netted a 1-0  over .

The goal was the 27th of Bratsberg's career and her team-high fifth of the season. It enabled the Lady Penguins
(6-5-1/5-3-1) to end a four-game winless streak against the Urban Knights (4-9-0/2-7-0).

The last four games between the two PacWest and Bay Area rivals went down to the wire. The Lady Penguins managed a double overtime tie with the Urban Knights the last time they played at Dominican, but in the last three games in San Francisco with Art U the Lady Penguins fell in close one-goal decisions.

“It's a huge win because we are rivals,” said Bratsberg. “We thought we were the better team last game but we were just unlucky. We had to capitalize this time and I think playing on a big field helped. We defended our own turf.”

The Lady Penguins have a 5-2 record at the brand new Kennelly Field this season, but Thursday's home win over Academy of Art may have been the most satisfying.

“The girls obviously were frustrated after the last [Art U] game and wanted to seek revenge from a competitive standpoint so they were super fired up for this game,” said Dominican Director of Soccer Jonathan Delano. "They are usually pretty physical with G [Bratsberg] and they man mark her in these games. It's a good tactic on their part, but I thought G did an excellent job. Her movement was great.”

Bratsberg's  goal was assisted by freshman Stephanie Owens, who made a wide open run down the left sideline after passes from Megan Hanson and Jessica Ramirez. Bratsberg maneuvered in front of the goal, received Owens' cross, then, with her back to the goal, spun around booted the ball in the back of the net.

“I didn't feel any pressure on my back for once so I knew I had that split second to turn and just shoot,” said Bratsberg. “It was sort of a scramble.”

Bratsberg nearly had a goal in the first minute of the second half but her sliding shot went wide left and Owens nearly had a goal in the first minute of the first half off a great diagonal pass by midfielder Mckenna Kimball.

The Lady Penguins relied on players such as midfielder Alex Moran and center backs Kendra Corberg, Kathryn Ripple, and Jill Nunes to keep Urban Knights shooters at a distance from Herring, the PacWest leader in saves. She had five saves in the second half and several other times aggressively scrambled out of the goal to beat Art U forwards to loose balls to prevent scoring chances.

On Saturday, Oct. 20 the Dominican soccer teams face California Baptist,the ninth-ranked team in the West Region in this week's NSCAA poll. The Lady Penguins kick off at 3:00 p.m. and will help to "Kick Out Breast Cancer" by wearing pink jerseys that will be auctioned off, with a portion of the proceeds going to Marin General Hospital Foundation. All fans are encouraged to wear pink to the games in support of breast cancer research. Learn more about Dominican's "Kick Out Breast Cancer" initiative here. Live game coverage will be available at www.dominicanathletics.com/live.