Belin Nets Yet Another Hat Trick, as Field Hockey Knocks Off Immaculata, 6-3

TOWSON, Md. - Senior Maya Belin (Baltimore, Md.) of the Goucher College field hockey team scored two goals in the first half, then another in the second to record a hat trick, leading the Gophers to a 6-3 win over Immaculata at Beldon Field on Tuesday.

With the win, Goucher is now on a three-match winning streak, bumping their record to 5-3 overall. Immaculata fell to 1-10 overall with the loss.

To open the match, the scoring came often for Goucher, as the Gophers opened a 3-0 lead in the first 23 minutes of regulation.

The Gophers' first goal came in the 17th minute, as Belin tallied her first score of the day off an assist from sophomore Ariana Hooper (San Diego, Calif.) to give Goucher a 1-0 lead. About three minutes later, Belin raced from the 50-yard stripe and to the net, finishing off a scoring chance to give the Gophers a 2-0 edge.

The third goal then came in the 23rd minute, as senior Jackie Juarez (Glendora, Calif.) scored her fourth goal of the season off a deflected save to give the Gophers a three-score lead.

Immaculata got on the board with a goal of their own in the 25h minute, but the Gophers ended the half with another score, as junior Meghan Oakes (Boothbay, Maine) scored off a deflected save in the 30th minute to give the Gophers a 4-1 lead into intermission.

It was more of the same in the second half, as the Gophers tallied two more goals to hit six for the game.

The first came in the 48th minute and was scored by Juarez, her second of the day, off an assist from Belin that gave the Gophers an insurmountable 5-1 lead. Then, after two straight Immaculata goals made it a 5-3 match, Belin ended the scoring on the day with a goal in the 60th minute off an assist from junior Valerie Mendoza (San Diego, Calif.).

Overall, Goucher held a sizable 20-7 edge on shots in the victory. The six goals scored by the Gophers were the most for the team in a game this season and the most since they scored nine in a win over Moravian last October.

For Belin, she has now recorded hat tricks in two of the last three matches for Goucher. The defending Landmark Conference Offensive Athlete of the Week, Belin now has scored nine goals and added four assists for a season point total of 22.

The Goucher College field hockey team returns to action on Saturday, as they take on Scranton in a key Landmark Conference match-up at Beldon Field. Things get underway at 1 p.m.

--GOPHERS--