After notching a loss and a tie in the last two games, Penn women’s soccer (3-1-2) came up with a decisive 4-0 win on Sunday against George Washington (0-6-2).
The victory came after senior forward Mia Shenk absolutely dominated the first half, recording a hat trick in just under 40 minutes of play. Her three-goal output was just the 15th such performance in program history, and the first since Clara Midgley scored three goals against New Jersey Institute of Technology in 2011.
The onslaught began when Shenk scored on a goal that was set up by sophomore midfielder Lauren Teuschl’s pass to the far post on a corner kick. Shenk got the jump on her defender and cleanly headed the ball just inside the far post.
Then, just 33 seconds later, as the Red and Blue had the Colonials under pressure in their own territory, senior forward Abbey Duncan stole the ball and passed it to Shenk, who kicked the ball into the back of the net yet again to bring the score to 2-0.
At 33 seconds apart, Shenk’s scores had the second-lowest time between goals in program history. First place in that statistic came when Ayla Gustafson scored two goals at 25 seconds apart against Lehigh on Nov. 1, 2000.
Once she scored the second goal, the crowd wondered if Shenk would be able to attain the elusive hat trick, and their question was answered in the 40th minute, when she scored her third goal of the day. The goal, which was assisted on by senior midfielder Lucy Kellogg and junior defender Peyton Raun, marked the first Penn women’s soccer hat trick in roughly a decade.
After riding the hat trick high into halftime, the Quakers cruised through the second half.
In the 57th minute, junior midfielder/forward Sizzy Lawton came up just short of a goal as the ball hit the top crossbar, but freshman forward Janae Stewart was there to rebound it and score the first goal of her career as a Quaker.
In addition to Stewart, Shenk, and the players that assisted on those goals, sophomore goalkeeper Laurence Gladu also played a big role in the team’s victory. Over the course of the game, she earned four saves and didn’t allow any goals in what was her second shutout so far this season.
Penn women’s soccer will look to keep up their positive momentum on Thursday at 6 p.m. against Villanova at Rhodes Field.
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