Molly Sunderdick’s first-half goal was all the GW women’s soccer team needed for a 1-0 win against Wagner College in the Colonials’ home opener Friday at the Mount Vernon Athletic Complex.

Head coach Tanya Vogel said her team controlled the play from the opening kickoff.

“I think we had about 90 percent of the possession throughout the game,” she said.

The Colonials (2-1) dominated, preventing Wagner from getting off a single shot on goal while taking 17 of their own, nine on goal.

They took the lead at the 14:30 mark when Sunderdick, a junior defender, scored the first goal of her collegiate career.

“We were telling our defenders to pass the ball long,” Vogel said of the rare goal by a defender. “Molly just put hers on goal.”

Sunderdick started in 30 of the 33 games she played in over her past two seasons but recorded only five career shots on goal.

The long-range goal came after GW exerted a solid 15 minutes of offensive pressure on Wagner goalkeeper Dana Honchurak, maintaining possession and winning a corner kick.

Junior forwards Kim Warner and Sarah Minnich also fired shots on goal during the pressure but could not connect.

Vogel said her team was prevented from converting several scoring opportunities by a stifling Wagner defense in the second half.

“We should have scored more goals, but their retreating style of defense made it difficult for us,” she said.

Still, GW managed seven more shots than Wagner in the second half, two on goal.

Wagner could not convert its strong defense into offensive opportunities, leaving the score unchanged for the rest of the game.

The Seahawks managed only one shot the entire game, giving GW goalkeeper Christine O’Malley a light day’s work. Because Wanger’s one shot was not on goal, O’Malley did not have a single save opportunity.

The win marked the second time in as many years that GW has won its home-opener at Mount Vernon. The Colonials’ next game is at the University of Ohio Friday before returning home for nearby road games at Towson and Maryland.