BANNER ELK, N.C.-- With time winding down in the second half of a scoreless match, the Valkyries pushed the ball into the box and took advantage of the aggressive Lees-McRae defense.  The Bobcats were issued its second yellow card of the match and drew a penalty kick.  Natalie Johnson lined up her shot and found the back of the net in the 83' for the game-winner and gave the Valkyries its 11th victory in a row.  Converse improved to 11-1 (6-0 CC) on Saturday afternoon, while dropping Lees-McRae to 4-62 overall and 3-2-1 in Conference Carolinas play.

"We are unbelievably proud of our players...They produced an incredible performance today against one of the best teams in the conference", said head coach John Constable.  "The last time we came up here we got beat 5-0. Today's result highlights the progression we have been making here!"

For most of the game, the two teams were evenly matched in terms of offense.  The one thing that set the two teams a part was the aggressive nature.  Converse was aggressive in the first half with its offense.  Lees-McRae's defense was aggressive throughout the match and led to its demise.  The Bobcat's defensive unit was called for a hard tackle inside the box allowing Natalie Johnson (Leicester, England) to put the Valkyries on top late in the match.  Johnson recorded her fourth goal of the season and third game-winner.  All three game-winners have come off PKs.

Lees-McRae was quiet in the first half taking three shots, but none of them made Valkyrie net-minder Joscelyn Wallace (Vancouver, B.C., Canada) come off her line.  The Bobcats ramped things up in the second half outshooting the Valkyries 13-5.  

Wallace finished the match with six saves.  Wallace's biggest save of the match came at the 89:05 mark.  The Bobcats moved the ball through the Valkyrie defense and found LMC's Mallory Overholt wide open on the right side of the net.  Wallace kept the Bobcats off the board after back-to-back corner kicks.

Converse had multiple attempts early in the match off the foot of Mariah Elliott (Tolland, Conn.) and Bethany Spivey (Greensboro, N.C.).  Elliott ripped a shot from outside the box towards the cage in the 19' but found the arms of the Bobcat keeper.  Spivey took two free kicks just outside the box, but were blocked by the Bobcat defenders.

Converse snapped a streak of 15 straight losses to Lees-McRae dating back to the reinstatement of the program in 1998.

Converse continues on its road swing as they head to Brevard, Oct 14 for its final non-conference match of the season.  First touch is at 4pm.