Amelia Villa recorded her second, third and fourth goals of the season to help Westmont Women’s Soccer (4-1-3, 2-0 PacWest) claim a 4-0 win over the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific.
The hat trick was the first of the year for the Warriors.
Villa, a sophomore from Solvang, has already equaled her goal total from her freshman season.
“She was on fire today,” Westmont head coach Jenny Jaggard said. “She was probably the best today at executing some of the attacking patterns we have been working on as a team.
“I am really excited that ended up turning into those three goals. She is a really good finisher.”
Despite 10 shots on goal by the Warriors in the first half, the game remained scoreless at the intermission.
The Warriors would go on to produce 25 shots in the game, 18 of which were on target.
The first shot to register a goal came in the 55th minute off a throw-in. Shayna Stock delivered the ball from the left side and found Olivia Gabelein just outside the six-yard box.
With a flick backward, Gabelein headed the ball in front of the net where, in turn, Villa headed it in just before the goalkeeper’s hands were about to close on the ball.
In the 66th minute, Daisy Alvarez recorded her first goal of the season to give the Warriors a 2-0 advantage. A shot by Kennah Shaffer rebounded off the keeper and back into play.
Alvarez collected the rebounded ball and returned it to its home.
“Daisy came out from playing a deep six position, made the run and got into the box,” Jaggard said. “I am really excited for her to get on the scoreboard. Today was one of her first starts this season and she has been making some positive momentum that last couple of weeks in training.”
Three minutes later, Villa struck for the second time. Alvarez forwarded a pass from the Warriors’ defensive half, leading Villa who was breaking from the right sideline.
Villa dribbled to the top of the 18-yard box and blasted the shot into the left side-netting.
In the 79th minute, Villa completed the hat trick to make the score 4-0. Gabelein had the ball on the right side of the 18-yard box and passed it back to Villa.
From the corner of the 18, Villa scored again in the left-side netting.
On the day, Villa took six shots, five of which were on goal and three of which scored.
“Overall, I think the team generating the opportunities that we got today is a reflection of the topic we have been working on, which is patterns to break into the final third,” Jaggard said. “I am excited to see that working. Now, we just need to get a little bit better at finishing those opportunities a little bit earlier in the game.
“I am proud of the work from the team. I would say it was a good team effort. Every field player that was healthy and able to play, played today. We got 25 people on the field today. It is exciting for them to get more experience.”
Westmont goalkeeper Maya Pablos recorded her fourth shutout of the year. Over the last four games, she has allowed just one goal while producing 11 saves.
The Warriors will be back in action on Saturday when they host Azusa Pacific (1-1, 4-4-2) as part of homecoming activities. After the men’s game, which begins at 12:30, the women’s game will kick off at 3:15 p.m.