Oral Roberts struck quickly and the one goal held up as the Golden Eagles defeated Valparaiso 1-0 on Thursday evening at Viking Field in Valparaiso.

Heather Hall took a cross from Charissa Adelmann along the touchline from the left and beat Erin Murray (Pleasanton, Calif./Amador Valley H.S.) from ten yards out at the 7:36 mark for the lone goal of the match.

Valpo had a great opportunity to tie the match late in the second half as Lindsay Holley (Waldorf, Md./Westlake H.S.) struck the cross bar from in close, but could not get the ball past Golden Eagle goalkeeper Stef Gurley.

The match was fairly even with both teams having the run of play at times. Valpo outshot Oral Roberts 14-13 and each team had five shots on goal. Murray made four stops for the Crusaders while Gurly stopped all five for the Golden Eagles.

Valpo had six corner kick opportunities while Oral Roberts had just one.

With the win, Oral Roberts (13-4, 5-0 Mid-Con) clinched the Mid-Continent Conference title outright with one match to play. Valparaiso (8-7-2, 3-3) will share third place in the final conference standings.

The Crusaders will close out the 2004 regular season on Saturday afternoon at Eastgate Field as the Brown and Gold entertain Central Michigan. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m., with Senior Day activities beginning at 1:45.