Coaches love to talk about how defense wins game. Offense is exciting and puts people in the seats, but it's defense you can lean on to win the tough games.

The Blue Streaks women's soccer team did just that as they played solid defense late in the second half and held on for a 3-2 win over Heidelberg University on Wednesday afternoon at Don Shula  Stadium. 

Box Score

With the win, John Carroll's fifth in a row, the Blue Streaks now sit at 8-6-1 overall, but more importantly stand 5-1 in Ohio Athletic Conference play.

"I really wasn't aware we had won five in a row," said head coach Tracy Blasius after the tense match. "This league doesn't allow you to enjoy even one win for very long. Heidelberg made us play the full 90 minutes. Coming into the game, we knew that they scored a lot of goals ... we knew they could be dangerous." 

Heidelberg had a reputation as a quick strike offense, but had also been known to give up a few goals. With that defensive vulnerability in mind, John Carroll turned to its aggressive offensive attack  to get on the board early and often.

Senior Douglas Hayes got things started with a goal, her sixth of the season, in the 15th minute. Haigh's goal came off a pass from sophomore Colleen Harmon, netting the junior  her fourth assist of the season.

After neither team scored for the remainder of the first half, Haigh returned the favor and setup senior Valerie Korb, the reigning Ohio Athletic Conference Player of the Week, for the first of her two goals on the day to put the Blue Streaks ahead by a pair. The first one came in the 50th minute and provided the Blue Streaks some insurance with a 2-0 lead.

Knowing that a two-goal lead was not insurmountable for a talented Heidelberg team, Korb netted one more goal in the 55th minute, this one assisted by freshman Genny Goergen. The two-goal performance from Korb was her second consecutive multi-goal game as it came on the heels of her hat trick in Saturday's 6-1 win over Muskingum.

"I was happy to jump out to that three-goal lead," said John Carroll head coach Tracy Blasius. "Obviously that does a lot for your team in terms of confidence when you can jump out to an early advantage."

Any notion that the Blue Streaks would cruise to victory was quickly put to rest when the 'Berg got on the board with a goal in the 60th minute. Rachel Johann beat Blue Streaks goalkeeper Molly Gradowski to cut the deficit to two.

The two-goal lead was comfortable ... for the few minutes it lasted. Heidelberg's Kelsey Hogan scored in the 68th minute to narrow the John Carroll lead to a lone goal.

However, that defense that had not allowed more than one goal in a game since September 23rd -- and not more than two in any match this season -- rediscovered their form and held for the final 22 minutes.

"Our defense kind of slipped up there for a little stretch in the second half, but we were able to hold on there for the victory," said Blasius. "When the outcome of the game was in question, our defense was able to get the ball out of there and was crucial in helping us get the conference win."

Senior goalkeeper Molly Gradowski, who earned her seventh win of the season, finished with four saves.