COSTA MESA, Calif.  – Faced with the tough task of playing three road matches in six days, the Concordia University Irvine women's soccer team responded with its third straight victory in resounding fashion.

The Golden Eagles pounced on an early opportunity Saturday to put the Vanguard Lions on their heels and never looked back, improving to 5-1-1 on the campaign with conference play on the horizon.

Playing a non-conference match against their NCAA DII neighbors in nearby Costa Mesa, the Golden Eagles jumped in front quickly after the starting lineups were introduced as Bella Barrett scored in just the fourth minute of the contest. CUI went on to secure its fourth straight shutout victory - and fifth clean sheet overall - by a count of 2-0.

PacWest Player of the Week Elle Soleau poked the ball away from a defender and the ball trickled right towards Barrett. The junior then took off with the ball, going straight to goal and whittling her way to get a shot off with her right foot. She found the back of the net by picking out a spot in the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 Golden Eagles.

This was the second straight road game where Barrett gave CUI the lead in the fourth minute of the game. She did the same in Concordia's 1-0 win against Cal State Monterey Bay this past Wednesday.

The majority of the first half featured both defenses clamping down and limiting scoring opportunities. Vanguard actually had more shot attempts (4) than Concordia (2) in the first 45 minutes, but senior goalkeeper Riley Urquiza made two key stops in the first half to protect the lead and finished with three total saves on the day.

Former All-Conference forward Hailey Havican had a couple scoring opportunities to widen the lead but one shot proved to be unlucky as it hit off the cross bar just above Vanguard's goalie.

With an unorthodox schedule across the league this season, the official PacWest Conference opener for CUI will actually be at Westmont this coming Thursday, Oct. 2 at 12:30 p.m. PT.

Following that match, CUI will be back at home on Saturday, Oct. 4 against Dominican. The ladies play first at 12 p.m. followed by the men's match against the Penguins at 2:30 p.m. PT. This will mark the first home conference doubleheader for the two CUI soccer programs this regular season.

Concordia was receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches National DII Poll this week. The Golden Eagles began the season ranked No. 25 in the nation and have a solid chance to return to the Top 25 rankings this coming Tuesday after securing three road wins in six days. CUI cruised past San Francisco State 4-0 on Monday in addition to topping Cal State Monterey Bay before Saturday's result against Vanguard.

CLICK HERE for the full CUI women's soccer schedule