CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. --- Chattanooga freshman forward Clarissa Salinas celebrated her birthday in style Thursday night, leading the Mocs in a 2-1 win over North Alabama in non-conference women's soccer action at the UTC Sports Complex. Salinas scored the first goal of the match then assisted with Shelby Hash's game winner in the second half.
 
Chattanooga improves to 2-2-2 on the year and North Alabama suffers its first loss of the year, falling to 3-1-3 overall.
 
"They are a dangerous team," Mocs head coach Gavin McKinney said. "They were unbeaten coming into tonight for a reason."
 
In the 24^th minute, Birna Johannsdottir sent a pass onward and Salinas raced past her defender into the box. The Lions' keeper charged out for the stop but wasn't fast enough as Salinas floated the shot over her and into the back of the net to give the Mocs a 1-0 lead.
 
"Great finish from Clarissa on the first goal," McKinney said.
 
North Alabama struck back to tie the match late in the opening frame. In the 43^rd minute Kira Schuster picked up a pass from Izzi Gurney to make it 1-1 heading into halftime.
 
Midway through the second half, the Mocs retook the lead and held on for their second win of the season.
 
Caroline Richvalsky brought the ball up the right side and found Salinas outside the box in the middle of the field. Salinas dribbled around the defense and slotted a pass into Hash, charging into the box. Hash got one foot onto the ball and slipped it past the UNA keeper who came out to make the stop. It rolled into the bottom right corner for the game winner in the 69^th minute.
 
"We're unbeaten four in a row," McKinney pointed out. "Two draws and two wins. We're starting to get better. We've got a good amount of young players. More confidence, getting used to our style of play and system."
 
Chattanooga outshot the Lions 11-7 and had a 7-4 shots on goal advantage. Caroline Ekern improves her record to 2-0-2 and tallied three saves in the match. Richvalsky had a game-high four shots with two on goal and Hash had two shots, both on goal.
 
North Alabama's Payton Yates pulled in five saves in 90 minutes in goal. Kate Wiseman, Alice Bussey and Schuster each had a team-high two shots.
 
Chattanooga returns to the pitch Sunday, September 11 to take on Belmont. The Bruins are 2-1-3 overall including a 2-0 loss to North Alabama in the opening week. The match is set to kick off at 2:00 p.m. and admission is FREE.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
1              23:03         UTC            Clarissa Salinas (2)       Birna Johannsdottir, Caroline Richvalsky
2              42:11         UNA          Kira Schuster (1)           Izzi Gurney
3              68:07         UTC            Shelby Hash (1)             Clarissa Salinas