The Malone University women's soccer team got two late goals from junior forward Christine Najjar but it wasn't quite enough to overcome an early 3-0 deficit on Tuesday afternoon as the Pioneers fell 3-2 in non-conference action at Clarion University.

The Golden Eagles' Alissa Spencer opened the scoring in the 13th minute of play, finding the back of the net off an assist from teammate Erin Rodgers.

Spencer then struck again just over three minutes into the second period, scoring off a corner kick from forward Anna Chamberlin to put the hosts in front 2-0.

The Clarion lead then grew to 3-0 five minutes later as Chamberlin tallied an unassisted goal.

Najjar got the Pioneer comeback started in the 65th minute after collecting a pass from Brianna Smith and firing a shot past the keeper for her eighth score of the season.

Smith then fed Najjar once more in the 84th minute to pull the Pioneers within one.

Down 3-2, Malone fired three more shots over the final six minutes.  The visitors were unable to find the equalizer, though, as two of the attempts were saved by goalkeeper Krista Mosi and the third deflected off the post.

Overall, Malone held a 20-10 edge in total shots in the match, including a 14-6 advantage in shots on goal.

Game Notes:
-The nine goals mark the highest single-season total of Najjar's career (she scored six goals as a freshman in 2013 and six goals as sophomore in 2014)
-Following Tuesday's match, Najjar moved into a tie for 10th on Malone's all-time goals scored list, now with 21 career goals
-Najjar and Smith have combined for a total of 43 of the Pioneers' 58 points this season (Najjar now has nine goals & four assists while Smith has nine goals and three assists)
-Goalkeeper Leah Rauscher tallied three saves on the afternoon
 
Up Next: The Pioneers return to Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play on Friday with a 12:00 p.m. contest at Tiffin University.  Follow the action with live stats: http://dragonweb.tiffin.edu/livestats/xlive.htm