GREENVILLE, Ill. - The women's soccer team defeated Spalding in dramatic fashion on Saturday evening when a late shot from Vanessa Ramirez went through the Spalding goalkeeper and into the net with only five and a half minutes to play.

Playing with a heightened sense of urgency in the final moments of the match, the Panthers realized that simply maintaining a tie or even being saddled with an unfortunate loss would put them in fourth place and a return matchup against Spalding on Tuesday. Instead, they were motivated by receiving the third seed and a date with Principia on Tuesday and wanted to send fifth place Spalding on a longer roadtrip, a Tuesday match in Fulton, Mo., against Westminster.

With this in mind, Ramirez struck a ball that got by Spalding's goalkeeper, and the Panthers held on to win the match. Ashlie Johnston Cabral received credit for the assist.

Greenville opened the game with a goal from Cabral in the 14th minute, gaining an assist from Jen De Leon De Leon.

The Panthers were outshot 9-8 in the match, and GU received two shots each from Emma Cadwell, De Leon, and Cabral.

Goalkeeper Addison Miller posted a three-save effort.

The Panthers (10-6-2, 9-4-1 SLIAC) will host Principia on Tuesday in a SLIAC first round match at Francis Field.