LONDON – The Guelph Gryphons women's soccer team faces a grueling start to the OUA season with its first four matches on the road. But the Gryphons haven't been fazed away from home. Guelph followed up a strong goalless draw in Windsor Friday with an impressive 1-0 victory over the Western Mustangs, thanks to a 70^th-minute winner from rookie Kaylin Twardowski.

The Gryphons had to fend off the aggressive host Mustangs but they manufactured the decisive goal with excellent build-up play. Second-year midfielder Danielle Sauve sent a ball wide down the right channel to second-year striker Victoria Hinchliffe, who crossed it back to her teammate. Sauve unleashed a hard shot that Western goalkeeper Megan Girardi could not gather, leaving the trailing Twardowski to run into the area and deposit the rebound for the critical breakthrough.

With a desperate Western side looking to equalize, it was then time to defend.

"We saw out the second half really well after the goal and held off a late Western rally," said Gryphons' coach Shayne Campbell.

Campbell described the match as a tale of two halves. The Mustangs came out flying and ultimately sent 14 shots towards goalkeeper Elizabeth Brenneman's net, seven of which were on target. But the Gryphons got better as the game wore on.

"They stretched the field on us and were very dominant in the first half," said Campbell. "They had many good looks at goal but our defenders held strong, blocking several shots. It was great defending by our backline and Libby made some really good saves."

Guelph made adjustments in the second half and got a better foothold in the match.

"We began to put more passes together and got forward a lot more," Campbell said.

The Gryphons now have four points from its first two matches. They continue the stretch of away matches with a trip to York Wednesday, Aug. 30 to face the Lions. Match time is 6 pm.