HIRAM, Ohio – Spurred by three goals in the opening 28 minutes of play, the Allegheny women's soccer team earned a convincing 5-0 road victory over North Coast Athletic Conference foe Hiram at a rainy Henry Stadium.
The victory lifts the Gators to 5-8-1 overall, and 2-3 in the NCAC.
Six different Gators recorded at least one point, led by
Jessie Thiessen's two-goal performance, as Allegheny posted its highest offensive output since a 5-0 win over Ohio Wesleyan exactly two years ago to the day.
Allegheny senior keeper
Colleen Fleming turned in a stellar performance in goal, tallying 11 saves to earn her third shutout victory of the season.
The team's traded possession in the middle third in the opening stages of the first half, but the Gators quickly seized control, effectively putting the game away with three goals in a 12-minute span midway through the opening stanza. After narrowly missing putting the Gators on the board after springing free on a breakaway in the 11th minute, Thiessen made the most of her second chance at the game's first goal. The speedy senior broke through the defense at midfield, raced in untouched, and beat Hiram's keeper with a shot to the lower left hand corner to put the Gators up 1-0 16:30 into play.
Eight minutes later, the Gators doubled up their lead, when
Adele Gilman scored her first career goal off of a rebound following a scramble in front to make it 2-0 with exactly 20 minutes left in the half.
On their ensuing possession just two minutes later, senior
Hannah Eisemann scored her first goal of the season scoring on a long run after receiving a pass from Gilman, to give Allegheny a 3-0 lead.
The third goal seemed to awaken Hiram, as the Terriers maintained possession for the entirety of the final 10 minutes of the half. Hiram racked the final eight shots of the half following the Eisemann strike, but continued to come up empty, as Fleming turned in a trio of solid saves, including a fully-extended dive to her right to snatch a Terrier attempt out of mid-air with six minutes left in the frame.
The Gators ended the first half being out-shot 14-5, with Fleming tallying eight saves, including six over the final 20 minutes.
After a sustained Gator possession led to a Hiram yellow card five minutes into the second half, Allegheny added more cushion to its lead, as
Sarah Donohue blasted a strike following an
Isabella Martinez corner kick for her first goal of the season in the 53rd minute.
Thiessen put an exclamation point on the decisive victory with 13:40 left in regulation, as she collected a long ball from Gilman and streaked through the Hiram defense to score her second breakaway goal of the game and account for the 5-0 final score. It marked her ninth goal and 21st point of the season, which are both tied for the NCAC lead.
Winners of two of their last three, the Gators will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 22, as they travel to Gambier, Ohio for a pivotal NCAC clash with Kenyon beginning at 1:00 p.m.
