CONWAY, S.C. – Julia Ziegenfuss' first career hat-trick propelled the Coastal Carolina women's soccer team past the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 4-1, on Thursday night at the CCU Soccer Stadium.
Coastal picked up three crucial points in the Sun Belt standings with the win and now sits at 2-7-3 overall and 1-3-1 in conference play, while Southern Miss drops to 1-7-2 overall and 1-3-1 in SBC play.
The Chanticleers wasted no time attacking as
Ella Schad sent a long ball through traffic that found the foot of
Megan Brouse. Brouse fired a shot just two minutes into the contest, but it went wide right of the goal.
Southern Miss was awarded a corner kick that Taylor Stewart sent into the box that found the head of a fellow Golden Eagle. The header went off the crossbar and over the net in the fourth minute to keep the match scoreless early.
At the half, Coastal Carolina held the shot advantage at 7-5, but three of the Golden Eagles' shots were on goal.
Notably, all five of the goals came in the second half of action.
After the break, a handball was called in the box on the Chanticleers. Southern Miss was awarded a penalty kick in the 50th minute which USM's Ilana Izquierdo lined up, only to see her shot attempt saved by CCU's sophomore goalkeeper
Hope Morrow to keep the score level at 0-0.
Ziegenfuss
' third goal of the season was the spark the Chanticleers needed in the 57th minute when the freshman connected on a corner kick from teammate
Rocio Fernandez to put the Chants up 1-0.
Brouse notched her team-leading eighth goal of the season and 20th of her career on the run as the senior connected on a long ball from teammate
Maggie Mace in the 75th minute to give CCU a 2-0 advantage.
Ziegenfuss tallied her second goal of the night in the 81st minute when Brouse sent a pass around a Golden Eagle defender that found the foot of Ziegenfuss to increase the host's advantage to 3-0.
Just over a minute later, Ziegenfuss cemented her first career hat-trick as Brouse fired a shot at the goal, which was saved but rebounded off towards Ziegenfuss, who was able to collect the rebound with ease and give CCU a 4-0 lead.
Southern Miss added its lone goal of the night with just over four minutes remaining in the contest as Ryan Smith sent a shot past Morrow to make the score 4-1.
In goal, Morrow recorded a career-high seven saves for the Chanticleers.
Coastal Carolina returns to the road for back-to-back road contests, as CCU is set to face Old Dominion on Sunday, Oct. 9, before taking on Georgia Southern on Oct. 16 in Statesboro, Ga.
For complete coverage of CCU women's soccer, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalWSoccer (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.
