For Franklin women's soccer to play its way into the HCAC tournament, winning at Earlham on Wednesday afternoon was a necessary first step.

Despite an early attacking flurry, however, the Grizzlies were unable to find the back of the net and wound up suffering a 1-0 setback.

Franklin (2-12-1, 1-6) took the initiative in the early going, with Sydney Lovett putting a shot on goal in the fourth minute and then adding two more around the 12- and 13-minute marks. The Grizzlies then wound up with another scoring chance 14:38 into the match, but Jetta Norris' shot was saved by Quaker goalkeeper Liz Godfrey.

Just 28 seconds later, Earlham got the only tally of the match when Mallory Smith scored on a counterattack.

The Grizzlies had some opportunities to even the match up before halftime, but Godfrey turned away shots on frame by Lovett and Amani Kincaid.

In the second half, Franklin was fortunate to keep the deficit at one. The Quakers had a 5-0 advantage in shots over the final 45 minutes after the Grizzlies had outshot them in the first half, 7-3. Earlham also had six of its eight corner kicks after halftime; the visitors had none all game.

Emma Watson finished with four saves in a losing effort for Franklin, which will play at home for the first time in 17 days when it hosts Berea on Saturday afternoon as part of a women's-men's doubleheader. The match will begin at 1 p.m.