GREENVILLE, Pa. --
Marcy Saldivar (Darlington, Pa./Blackhawk) registered her first collegiate hat trick off three assists from
Chandler Marteeny (Somerset, Pa./Somerset) as the Washington & Jefferson women's soccer team rolled to a 4-0 victory at Thiel on Wednesday night.
The hat trick by Saldivar was the first by a President since Oct. 25, 2017. Saldivar becomes the fifth player from the Presidents' Athletic Conference to record a hat trick in 2019.
Lexey Finney (Canonsburg, Pa./Canonsburg) opened the scoring for W&J by tallying an unassisted strike just 1:41 into the contest. The goal was the second in as many matches for the junior.
The Presidents doubled the lead shortly before halftime when Saldivar found the back of the net off of a corner kick by Marteeny. That score gave W&J a 2-0 advantage in the 37th minute.
W&J continued to apply offensive pressure in the second half. After dominating possession for more than 20 minutes, Marteeny connected with Saldivar for a second time, making the score 3-0 in the 74th minute.
In the 89th minute, Marteeny connected with Saldivar for a third time. Saldivar ripped home her third goal of the evening to help the Red and Black finish off a 4-0 victory.
Saldivar, the Presidents' leading goal scorer, has posted a team-best six goals this season on just 15 shots.
Shayla Watkins (Charleroi, Pa./Charleroi),
Gabriella Lloyd (Butler, Pa./Butler) and
Beth Boyles (Dundee, Ohio/Hiland) combined to post a shutout in goal. Watkins worked the first half to improve her record to 3-3-2 in net this season.
W&J outshot Thiel by a 17-3 margin, which included an 11-1 edge in shots on goal. The Presidents outpaced the Tomcats in corner kicks by a 9-1 margin.
The win improves W&J to 2-0-3 in PAC play and 4-7-3 overall. The loss drops Thiel to 1-4 in league contests and 6-9 overall.
W&J travels to Geneva College for a key PAC matchup with the Golden Tornadoes on Friday, Oct. 25. Both teams enter Friday's contest with nine points in conference play. Start time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
