ANDERSON, S.C. - Fueled by junior Idoia Agirre's second hat trick of the season, Anderson University women's soccer returned to the win column with a 5-0 blanking of nonconference opponent Emmanuel on Wednesday afternoon at Trojan Stadium.
The Trojans bounced back from just their second setback of the season on Saturday and improve to a perfect 6-0 against teams outside the South Atlantic Conference. Overall, AU moves to 11-2 overall, while the Lions drop their fourth straight match and fall to 2-8.
Agirre opened the match's scoring in the fourth minute when she sprinted down the left side and fired a shot between the legs of Emmanuel goalkeeper Breanna Grizzle. With the goal, Agirre has scored at least one goal in nine of Anderson's 13 matches on the year.
Senior attacker Emily Cowan continued the scoring trend in the
12th minute of play when teammate Lexxi Longmore found Cowan
streaking through the Emmanuel box. With the ball at her feet,
Cowan struck a shot off the post and eventually bounced into the
back of the net to increase the score to 2-0. For Cowan, the goal
was her second of the year.
Following the halftime break, senior Mariana Poveda found the scoresheet with a 64th-minute goal after Agirre found her unmarked at the top of 18-yard box. Poveda sent a one-timer that hit the back of the net for her second goal of the campaign. As for Agirre, the junior claimed her sixth assist of 2015.
Agirre rounded out the Black and Gold's scoring for the match, as the forward was fouled inside the EC box in the 73rd minute. From there, Agirre choose the right side and slotted a shot past substitute goalkeeper Marina Eisenhut for her second tally of the afternoon. Moments later, Agirre sealed her hat trick in the 87th minute when we blew past several Emmanuel defenders and pushed a shot to Eisenhut's right side to make the score 5-0.
The Trojans out-shot the visitors, 26-9, for the match, as Agirre led the way with 11 shots. Freshman Kenzie Van Heusen followed with four shots, while Poveda totaled three shots for the afternoon.
Defensively, the goalkeeping duo of freshman Bianca Porras and junior Sadie Lancaster combined for four saves, stopping two shots apiece. Porras was awarded her first collegiate victory between the posts for AU, as she played in just over 71 minutes. Lancaster preserved the team clean sheet, seeing action in the final 18 minutes.
The Trojans resume SAC play on Saturday when they host Catawba. Kick-off from Trojan Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m.
