MIDDLETOWN, CT. - Securing three unanswered goals in a row for her second hat trick of the season,
Maria Utz '27 led the Wesleyan women's soccer team to a 6-0 shutout of Johnson & Wales on Tuesday evening at Smith Field as the team advances to 9-4-0 overall on the season.
Tuesday night's victory over the Wildcats is the 150
th career win for head coach
Eva Meredith during her tenure with the women's soccer program. Meredith has led the Cardinals to five straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 13 NESCAC Championship appearances. Meredith and her staff have won two NESCAC Coaching Staff of the Year awards while coaching severall All-American and All-NESCAC selections.
Shouldering the Cardinals with her second hat trick of the season, Utz put away three goals in 46 minutes in a swing that the Wildcats could do very little about. Utz leads the NESCAC with 15 goals and sits just one goal shy of the program season scoring record. The Cardinals opened with her first goal at just six minutes, sending a shot reeling from the corner of the box from
Gabriella Freeman '29.
The Cardinals continued to dominate the pitch and struck again 25 minutes with help from Utz. The Wildcats attempted to clear the ball but could not cross the midfield. The ball returned to Utz, this time from
Kerenza Leahey '27, and the senior scored from the same angle as the first. The Cardinals entered the break with a two-goal lead, soon to be three.
With just under a minute of play underway in the second half, Utz completed her hat trick, and scored her 15
th goal of the season. Leahey's push from inside the zone found Utz sprinting up the middle and the Wildcats could not stop her. Four minutes later Utz found
Taylor Hill '28 at the left post, setting up Hill's sixth goal of the season.
Hill's presence up front led to her own assist at 53 minutes, this time centering
Bridget Taketa '29 for her own goal. Hill took an initial shot on Wildcats goalie Samantha Rodes, the rebound falling back to her before her touch to Taketa waiting on the line.
With the clock quickly winding down in regulation time, the Cardinals hit one final time off the foot of freshman
Sienna Goldstein '30 at the 86-minute mark. Upon entering the game, Goldstein was all over the ball and her hard work paid off when
Lola Tirabassi's '29 pass through the corner found her waiting above Rodes.
In goal,
Maggie di Rienzo '29 picks up the six-goal shutout, making two saves before being relieved by
Sophie Thibault '30 with two additional saves. Rodes finished with 12 saves for the Wildcats.
The Cardinals return to action on Saturday, Oct. 24
th when they face Amherst on the road at 12 p.m.
