Hegg Has Hat Trick as Commodores win 9-0

Hegg Has Hat Trick as Commodores win 9-0

9/2/2005

The Vanderbilt women’s soccer team gave its fans something to celebrate when it scored nine goals in a 9-0 victory over Francis Marion Friday night at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.

“Obviously it’s great to see your team score goals,” said head coach Ronnie Coveleskie Hill. “It’s also great to see them have fun out there.”

The Commodores (2-1) gave a rude awakening to the Patriots (0-1), who were playing their first game ever as a Division I program. The goals column was not the only area to show a huge difference. The Commodores also out-shot FMU 43-3 and clearly had a dominant advantage in time of possession.

“It was a great testament to Francis Marion’s character, the way they hung in there and continued to fight,” Hill said. “I think they’re going to have a really bright future in front of them.”

Kelci Hegg led the attack with a hat trick. She applied the bookends to Vanderbilt’s impressive victory, scoring the team’s first and eighth goals off assists from Monica Buff before scoring the team’s final goal, an unassisted tally.

“Kelci’s goal coming into the game was to score three goals tonight and we were able to get her back in there and she proved that she can score,” Hill said.

Hegg also recorded one assist for a whopping seven points in the game.

Amy Baumann sent two balls into the back of the net and contributed two assists for six points, while Kari Boersma, Jessica Lenze, Amy Wilcox and Sarah Dennis all scored one goal each. Dennis, Wilcox, and sophomore Meredith Kohn all contributed assists in the game as well.

Every player who was healthy saw action, as 19 players made their way onto the field. That meant Hill was able to let several of her young players see plenty of action, including sophomore goalkeeper Erin Horan, who started the second half in her first minutes as a Commodore. Horan recorded a save in her 45-minute debut.

“I thought my freshmen did a fantastic job,” Hill said. “Taylor Ryer got in there and played her first game for us, Meghan Higgins played the entire second half.”

Hill was also complimentary of Wilcox’s goal, a stunning 35-yarder from the outside the box near the left sideline.

While the game was a good exercise for the offense, and the defense, while tested infrequently, earned its shutout, Hill said there are still areas the team can work on.

“I think anytime you are generating scoring opportunities it is a good thing,” she said. “However, there were some chances we had in the first half where we should probably have gotten goals out of those opportunities. I think this was a great learning experience, particularly for our young players.”

The Commodores will be back in action on Sunday when they host Washington State at 1 p.m. CT at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex.