MEADVILLE, Pa. - Behind a dominant second half, the Allegheny women's soccer team earned its first win of the season in convincing fashion, topping Geneva College 6-1 under the lights at Frank B. Fuhrer Field.

The potent Gator offense racked 26 shots on the evening, including 16 in the second half, while six different Allegheny (1-2) players tallied at least one point.

Junior Hannah Smith paced the Gator offense with five points, on two goals and one assist, while freshman Shannon McGuinn scored the first two goals of her career.  Fellow rookie Kelli Gaus also scored her first career tally, while Taylor Renk posted her first goal of the year.

Possession was even in the opening stages of the first half, while Geneva tallied the game's first three shots.  In the 17th minute, momentum went the way of the Gators with a long possession.  After a shot from Renk went wide, the Gators kept the Golden Tornado defense pinned in its own end, and it paid off at the 19:06 mark.  Hannah Smith controlled the ball off the sideline, and sent a perfect cross right to the doorstep, where it met the head of Gaus, who directed it toward the far post and into the goal.

After the first score, the Gators controlled play, posting five quality shots over the next eight minutes, with two apiece by Renk and Donohue.  Golden Tornado keeper Franki Whitenour turned a pair of the attempts aside, while two others went wide, as the Gator lead remained at one.  Geneva looked to counter, posting three straight shots in a three-minute span, but none found the mark. Allegheny would then regain control in the latter stages of the half, forcing Whitenour to make two more saves, but were unable to add a second goal, and the match headed into the break with the Gators holding on to the one-goal lead.

Allegheny ended the half with a 10-9 advantage in shots, while each team took two corner kicks.

The Gators came out of the intermission on fire, tallying a trio of scoring attempts in the first five minutes, with Whitenour making a pair of saves, while the third was blocked up close by the defense.  

After Gator keeper Maya Hackman turned in her first save of the second half in the 57th minute, the Gators quickly advanced up field.  Just inside the midfield line, Sarah Sherwood sent a pass through the defense, and it met McGuinn on the run.  The freshman went in on goal untouched, and buried the breakaway for her first collegiate goal, making the score 2-0 with 33 minutes left in regulation.

Six minutes later, the Gators struck again.  Another long possession deep in Geneva territory resulted in a corner kick. Martinez sent the arching set piece into the box, where it bounced off of a defender and right to Renk, who knocked it home to make it 3-0.

Less than three minutes after Renk's strike, McGuinn turned in a highlight-reel goal to give the Gators a 4-0 lead.  The rookie collected a throw on the sideline near the corner, dribbled through and juked past three defenders into the open goal box, where she blasted home her second tally of the night with her left foot to give the hosts a four-goal lead with 23 minutes left. 

The wide-open style of play continued, with Geneva finding the scoreboard just 90 seconds later, as Bailey Milroy scored from the top of the box after a deflected corner kick.

After the Geneva strike, the Gators again regained control, rattling off the game's next five shots, before cashing in on another corner kick for their fifth tally of the night.  Martinez's again looped a high corner kick toward the box, where it bounced off of Whitenour in goal and then the Gators' Adele Gilman, before it settled in front of Smkth, who sent it home for her first goal of the season.  

With just over three minutes left in the game, Smith's second tally closed out the night's scoring, as she collected a bouncing ball off of the defense in front and sent it home to give the Gators' their sixth goal.

In the decisive second half, the Gators out-shot the Golden Tornadoes 16-3, while holding a 5-1 advantage in corner kicks.  

Seven different players posted at least one shot for the Gators on the night, led by a career-high nine from Renk, and seven from McGuinn.  Hackman earned her first career win in goal, turning in four saves.

The six goals were Allegheny's most in a game since October 2, 2010, when the Gators blanked Oberlin 6-0.  The win improved the Gators to 12-1 all-time against the non-conference Golden Tornadoes.

Allegheny will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 9, as they play host to Case Western Reserve beginning at 1 p.m. at The Robertson Athletic Complex.

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