Senior Lily Welch scored her first career goal and junior Brooklynn Kirkpatrick posted her third consecutive shutout to lead the Youngstown State women's soccer team past Kent State, 1-0, on Thursday night at Farmers National Bank Field.

With the win, the Penguins improve to 2-4-1 overall while the Golden Flashes fall 0-4-2 on the year. It also marks the first time Youngstown State defeated Kent State since 1997.

The Penguins and Golden Flashes batted scoreless for 71 minutes before Welch found paydirt. Junior Lianna Van Sice booted a corner kick from the right side into the middle of the box where Welch's header found the bottom left corner of the goal at the 71:14 mark of the game.

Kent State, which outshot YSU, 10-5, continued to apply pressure late in the second half. The Golden Flashes were denied three shots on the goal in the final eight minutes, two by Kirkpatrick and the other by senior defender Mikayla Mustard who blocked Joey Skillen's open-net attempt at the 85:58 mark of the game.

Kirkpatrick posted her fifth career save and became just the second player in school history to record three consecutive shutouts. Kylee Moffett set the school record with four straight shutouts in 2017.

Youngstown State opens Horizon League play at Oakland, Thursday, Sept. 15. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. in Rochester, Mich.