Belmont Abbey scored three times in the second half as senior Alana Ryczek scored once and assisted on another as the Crusaders women's soccer team extended its Conference Carolinas winning streak to five with a 3-1 victory at Converse this evening. The win ups the Abbey's ledger to 8-7-0 overall and into a tie for first place in the conference standings with a 7-1-0 mark, while Converse drops to 6-8-2 overall and 2-5-2 in league play.

The Crusaders controlled the run of play for all 90 minutes but all four of the goals came in the last half hour. Silvia Vazquez broke the scoreless tie in the 61st minute as Ryczek sailed a corner kick to the box, where Vazquez put home her second goal of the year.

Just over three minutes later, however, Converse deadocked the match at one on a Joy Keith strike, but the tie was quickly broken by Ryczek, who buried a free kick over the head of goalkeeper Alyssa Schmitt at the 73:24 mark to put the Crusaders ahead to stay.

Eight minutes after Ryczek's goal, Cassidy Coutinho scored her team-leading sixth goal of the year squeezing in a shot from the right corner to close the scoring.

Belmont Abbey outshot Converse 26-5 and held a commanding 14-1 edge in corner kicks. Hannah Kohls made four saves, while Schmitt was credited with nine saves.