SAN RAFAEL, Calif.—Dominican women's soccer sustained an early lead against Notre Dame de Namur University on their way to defeating the Argonauts, 3-1 Saturday morning at Kennelly Field. 
 
The Penguin offense came alive as freshman midfielder Tanya Bills led Dominican with two goals in her first multiple-game contest in a Dominican uniform. Annika Cerini captured the third goal for Dominican down the stretch to solidify the victory. Alyssa Ramos earned the win in goal for Dominican and recorded three saves on the day. 
 
Zinet Siddiqi netted NDNU's only goal of the day as the Argos went on to take just seven shots throughout 90 minutes, compared to the Penguins' 20 attempts. 
 
In the second minute of action, freshman Victoria Avina muscled her way up the right sideline and earned a corner kick. Lexi Martinez took the corner and connected with Bills in the box for a header to the back of the net to take a 1-0 lead. 
 
The Penguins earned another corner in the fourth minute of play, and Martinez connected with Ana Herrera in the box for a tap in, but Aguilar was in the right place at the right time to make the save. 
 
Later in the 13^th minute of the match, the Penguins were forced to temporarily play with ten players, due to a uniform violation. The Argos took advantage of the short roster as Ellie Mujushi earned a foul in the box to set up a penalty kick for NDNU. Siddiqi took the kick and buried it in the bottom right corner of the box to even the score. 
 
NDNU continued to apply pressure on the Dominican backfield as Samantha Sanchez rocketed a shot from behind the box, but Ramos was there to make a game-changing save, jumping up to knock the attempt over the crossbar.
 
The Penguins began the second half on the offensive end, and two minutes after the half, freshman Trinity Reyes took control down the right sideline sending a cross to Bills, wide-open at the top of the box. Bills sent a shot to the back of the net to help the Penguins take the 2-1 lead. Dominican controlled the game on the offensive and defensive end for the remainder of the competition. In the 77^th minute, Cerini took her defender toward the left corner flag and was able to withstand an attempted slide tackle from her defender. Cerini popped back up and curved a shot from outside the box and inside the left post to make it a 3-1 game and solidify the win for the Penguins. 
 
Dominican returns to the pitch Thursday as they welcome Concordia University Irvine at 11 a.m. PDT. Live video and stats will be available online.