They found her, finally, 55 minutes into the 3ASouth Piedmont Conference match at East Rowan. After hanging on to secure the 1-0 win, sophomore Nichole Peebles was still giddy over her first career goal.

“Once I got it (pass) Ijust had the goal in my mind. I was nervous. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh!’”Peebles said. “I felt like Iwas all by myself out there. I was just so happy. It was awesome.”

West improved to 10-6 overall and 8-4 in the league despite playing without Sara Hendrickson. The Falcons’ leading scorer and last season’s county player of the year watched from the bench with a cast on her foot. She might have torn ligaments, but further tests remain necessary.

“It’s difficult. Somebody else has to step up and score and tonight it was Nicole’s turn,”West head coach Rebecca Snider said. “She did a good job putting that one in.”

Before Peebles’ heroics, a stingy East defense and the wall-like Sarah Ivey in goal turned away every Falcon scoring chance. West sent a dozen shots on goal in the first half, but Ivey dove, slid and jumped to snatch every shot out of the air.

Falcons Lauren Duffy and Keri Schenk came away empty on several attempts, and the combination of Hendrickson’s absence and the Mustang defense made it 0-0 at the half.

“We knew from playing West in the past that they have a high-powered offense. We worked with a new defensive strategy tonight,”East head coach Jon Heidrick said. “We had disastrous results the first two times. You’re not out of it when it’s 1-0.”

West topped the Mustangs in the season-opening county tournament, then rolled to a 5-0 win in Mount Ulla last month.

“East is much improved from the first time we played them. They’re a lot better at every position,” Snider said. “We were in their half most of the first period, but their keeper is good and No. 2 (senior Tiffany Bost) was just everywhere.”

Bost, Carrie Goodnight and Brittany Fox applied early pressure in the second half, but nearly all of East’s shots came from a step too far out. The result was mostly easy saves for West keeper Sara Pieper or shots that caromed harmlessly off the side of the net.

After one of East’s attacking sequences, West caught a break. The Mustang defense was playing closer to midfield than it should have been. Falcon Kelly Hasemezhdeh sent a long pass down the right side for the speedy Peebles, who darted past the East defense and sent a low crossing shot into the corner of the net past a diving Ivey.

East kept up the pressure over the final 24 minutes, but Falcon defenders Jessica Matthews, Ashley Shaver and Kristen and Kathryn McNeely stood their ground. In the last two minutes, West pressed the attack and didn’t even give the Mustangs a chance in the offensive end.

That left Ivey and the defense with more work to do instead of thinking about a game-tying goal. Ivey finished with 15 saves, and except for a defensive lapse, it could have been 16 and a scoreless tie.

Not quite a win, but Heidrick was pleased with what he saw and what he knows he’ll continue seeing from his young Mustangs.

“We have a mix of 13 freshmen and sophomores,”Heidrick said. “They’re learning and they’re now picking up things much faster.”