LEXINGTON, Va. – A hat trick from Tori Lopez (Snellville, Ga.) and a strong defensive performance lifted the Presbyterian College women's soccer team to a 4-0 road victory over VMI on Saturday afternoon.
PC improves to 7-7-0 overall and 4-4-0 Big South, already the most overall wins for the program since 2006 and the most Big South victories ever in a season. The Blue Hose next play on Wednesday at Gardner-Webb in a 4:30 p.m. Big South tilt. VMI falls to 3-12-0 on the year and 1-7-0 in league action.
Lopez scored three goals in the victory, all in the first 33:35. The senior forward becomes the first Blue Hose to score a hat trick since Lytle Cannon netted three in a win over Converse on October 16, 2006.
Sara Simpson (Columbia, S.C.) also found the back of the net in the victory.
Blue Hose goalkeeper Jordan Broadway (Chapin, S.C.) and Sydney Fontenot (Austin, Texas) combined for the shutout, playing each half. Fontenot made three saves in the final 45 minutes.
PC jumped on the Keydets early on a pair of goals from Lopez. The senior executed a perfect header on a excellent cross from Rebecca Miller in the 12th minute to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead.
Lopez struck again less than three minutes later. A through pass from Simpson deflected off of a VMI defender and Lopez collected the loose ball on a run deep into the VMI end. Lopez headed through the goal box and pinged a shot off of the left post from the right side for a 2-0 lead and her sixth goal of the season.
Simpson would get a goal of her own in the 25th minute. A tic-tac-toe play from Brittany Whitson (Conyers, Ga.) and Miller gave Simpson the ball in the box and Simpson finished into the right side to give the Blue Hose a 3-0 advantage. The score gave Miller her second assist of the day.
Lopez finished the hat trick in the 34th minute on an unassisted score. The forward beat a Keydet defender in a 1-on-1 situation before slipping a shot past VMI goalkeeper Liz Nickerson.
From there, the Blue Hose defense and goalkeepers held the line to keep the Keydets off of the scoreboard for the team's first shutout since September 28.
PC outshot VMI by a 12 to 10 count despite receiving only two corner kicks to the Keydets' eight.
