Hirssig's hat trick leads Women's Soccer past Dominican

RIVER FOREST, Ill. – Junior Anna Hirssig recorded her first career hat trick as she led the Concordia University Wisconsin women's soccer team to a 3-0 victory over Dominican University Saturday afternoon. The match was the conference opener for both teams.

Hirssig (Rochester, Minn.) scored the first of her three goals on a penalty kick with 6:44 remaining in the opening half. That would be the only scoring mark over the first 45 minutes of play as CUW dominated possession for much of the half, recording 13 shots to just three for Dominican.

In the second half it was Hirssig continuing her strong match, scoring on a pair of headers, both off passes from freshman Rachel Suarez (Mt. Prospect, Ill.). The first of those was on a cross pass from Suarez at the 56:47 mark, while her hat trick goal came off a corner pass with 21:47 remaining in the contest.

CUW was even more dominant in the second half than the first as they outshot the Stars, 19-0 after halftime. The Falcons finished with 32 shots compared to three for Dominican, and held a 17-3 edge in shots on goal. Hirrsig led all players with seven total shots, six being on goal. Sophomores Carley Pfannerstill (Grafton, Wis.) and Emily Ciesielczyk (Waukesha, Wis.) each recorded five shots.

Freshman Ariana Worthing (Saginaw, Mich.) posted her first career shutout in the winning, stopping all three shots she faced. Sara Stepanovich took the loss, making 14 saves.

CUW (3-4-0, 1-0-0 NACC) will return to action Tuesday when they visit Lakeland College for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match. The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.