DELAND, Fla. – They say that simply believing can sometimes be enough. It had been 902 days since the Jacksonville University women's soccer program (1-6-1, 1-1-1 ASUN) last celebrated a victory and it would have been excusable for those struggles to continue given the amount of adversity this program has endured in that time. However, on Saturday night in Deland, the Dolphins exorcised those demons, knocking off Stetson (1-3-1, 0-2-1), 1-0.

Coincidentally, that win 902 days ago was also against Stetson but at Southern Oak Stadium in Jacksonville. The Dolphins scored just 2:32 into the match and locked down the Hatters from that point forward to secure the first of many victories in the burgeoning career of new head coach John Constable. Gabby Holtrop scored the first goal of her career and Kaya Williams contributed the assist.

"This was a huge win for our program," Constable said of the effort. "Stetson are a good team. We have a young team this year highlighted by a freshman assisting and a freshman scoring tonight. The ladies battled all night. The most pleasing aspect of everything is they have stuck together this season. You learn a lot about people when things are not always going the way you want and there is no doubt there has been some lows this season. However, what I have learned is we have a fantastic group of young women as each and every day they have showed up with a positive hardworking, team orientated attitude. Tonight, they got their reward for that!"

The back line put forth a tremendous effort, facing 17 shots, seven which were on goal, but Courtney Green was there to make every save. While Jacksonville managed just two shots, it only takes one and Holtrop's try was true.

Stetson did the majority of its damage in the second half, pounding 11 of those 17 shots but to no avail. The Hatters produced more corner kicks, 8-2, and their goalkeeper never had to make a save after that early chance that found its mark. This was the rubber match to a 2-2, double-overtime tie two weeks ago at JU.

Just like that, with the victory, the Dolphins move into second place in their half of the ASUN standings and a half game ahead of FGCU with just three contests left in the 2021 regular season. The ASUN Championship gets underway in Apr. 10 but first, the Dolphins will close out the home slate on Senior Day, Sat. Mar. 20 opposite North Florida followed by trips to FGCU (Mar. 28) and North Florida (Apr. 3) to close out the regular season.