Something had to give.

Jackson broke through against defensive-minded Shorecrest and got a 1-0 victory Oct. 7 at Shoreline Stadium.

Junior midfielder Brianna Ellis beat goalkeeper Caroline Towles on a loose ball in front of the goal and scored in the 68th minute to give Jackson the win. A cross from co-captain Katie Reese put the ball in play for Ellis.

Both teams seemed content to play possession soccer most of the game, with Shorecrest’s game plan focused on the defensive end.

“We knew defensively they’d be very tenacious and they were,” Jackson coach Mike Bartley said. “They were all over our target players. They marked up really well. (Shorecrest coach Mindy Dalziel) kept people behind the ball. She always had five behind the ball and kept us from running our offense.”

But Jackson (2-0 Western Conference South Division, 7-1-1 overall) stepped up the offensive attack in the second half with 10 of its 13 shots coming in the final 40 minutes and came close to scoring several other times.

Jackson’s freshman forward Cara Wegner, who battled all game for scoring opportunities, launched a shot in the 50th minute that Towles dove to stop.

In the 60th minute, junior Megan Bolmes drilled a shot from 30 yards out that hit the crossbar.

“I thought we started off not too sweet but we picked it up,” Reese said.

Towles made three saves in the second half for the Scots to keep it close.

Shorecrest (0-2 conference, 4-3-2 overall) was shut out for the fifth time this season and only had four shots the entire game. Scoring goals has been a problem for the Scots in recent years and that continued against Jackson.

“Once we get into the attack we can’t find creativity to get offense going,” Shorecrest coach Mindy Dalziel said. “We create, we possess we play really good soccer on the field. But we can’t get into the attack to score goals.”

Shorecrest goes to a three-defender, five-midfielder, two-forward set when it attacks but that hasn’t produced the desired results.

“We’re going to go back to the drawing board and see what we can do to create some more offense,” Dalziel said.

To add to the difficulties, Shorecrest’s fastest forward, Alexis Ramos, tore her medial collateral ligament, meniscus and posterior collateral ligament in her right knee in a collision with the goalkeeper in a game against Kamiak Sept. 25. She is done for the season.