DAVENPORT, Iowa —St. Ambrose University has pulled off the three-peat times two.

The Fighting Bees (13-5-3) claimed their third straight Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Tournament title on Tuesday night to match their three consecutive regular-season crowns.  No. 3-seeded SAU sealed the deal with its 1-0 victory over No. 5 University of St. Francis.

After sharing the regular-season crown with both Holy Cross College and Saint Xavier University, the Bees used three straight one-goal decisions to capture the postseason tournament.  Winners of seven matches in a row and riding a 13-match unbeaten streak, St. Ambrose gains the league’s second automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round with the win.

Holy Cross College collected the first berth by earning the top seed in the tournament.

Mia Hefner’s short goal from the left side proved to be the deciding factor, breaking up a 0-0 deadlock at the 60:47 mark.  Addie Kerkhoff provided the assist on her free kick.  It was Hefner’s team-leading 11th goal of the campaign.

Ella Oscarsson authored her third shutout of the season, stopping three St. Francis shots on the night, the majority of which came in the opening half.

St. Ambrose outshot St. Francis 17-10, including doubling up on shots on goal (6-3).  The Bees also had five corner kicks to USF’s one.

For St. Francis (13-4-3), the loss snapped a six-match unbeaten streak and kept the Saints from pulling off their third upset of the tournament.  Appearing in the championship match for the first time in school history, the Saints won a school-record 13 matches this fall.

The complete tournament results follow:

Tuesday, November 4 – First Round
• Match #1: No. 1 Holy Cross 3, No. 8 Indiana Northwest 2
• Match #2: No. 5 St. Francis 1, No.4 Olivet Nazarene 0
• Match #3: No. 2 Saint Xavier 1, No. 7 Trinity Christian 0
• Match #4: No. 3 St. Ambrose 2, No. 6 Viterbo 1

Friday, November 7 – Semifinal Round
• Match #5: No. 5 St. Francis 2, No. 1 Holy Cross 1
• Match #6: No. 3 St. Ambrose 2, No. 2 Saint Xavier 1 — 2OT

Tuesday, November 11 – Championship
• Match #7: No. 3 St. Ambrose 1, No. 5 St. Francis 0