Montoya registers first career hat-trick

POSTGAME COMMENTS WITH LUIS REIS & KAITLIN MONTOYA

NORTON, Mass.  – Behind a hat-trick from sophomore forward/midfielder Kaitlin Montoya (Placentia, Calif./Orange Lutheran), the Wheaton College women's soccer team defeated Bridgewater State University, 5-1, in non-conference action at Mirrione Stadium on Saturday afternoon.  

Lyons' senior co-captain Lauren Corigliano (Roselle Park, N.J./Roselle Park) netted her 24th career goal – and second of the 2014 campaign – just 40-seconds into the contest and the hosts never looked back. Montoya followed with back-to-back goals separated by exactly one minute at 7:26 and 8:26, respectively, before she completed her hat-trick in the 23rd minute to give Wheaton a 4-0 advantage at the time. Sophomore forward Alexa Sanchez (Houston, Texas/Bellaire) capped the scoring for the hosts in the 36th minute with a tally on a feed from first-year Caren McCarthy (San Jose, Calif./Pioneer) for her first goal of the season. 

Bridgewater State broke up the shutout chance for the Lyons in the 65th minute as junior Olivia Planty (Litchfield, N.H./Campbell) sniped a shot into the upper right corner of the net off a pass outside of the box from first-year forward Courtney Pepin (Uxbridge, Mass./Uxbridge).  

Wheaton junior forward/midfielder Julia Cipriano (Middlebury, Conn./Pomperaug) initiated Corigliano's tally with a cross from the corner of the box which was then one-touched by Montoya to Corigliano for the opening score of the contest. First-year Megan Healy (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) set up the first of three-straight markers from Montoya at 7:26 with a cross into the box, while Corigliano delivered a cross to Montoya from the left corner of the box one minute later to push the Blue and White ahead, 3-0, in less than ten minutes of play on the pitch. Montoya's final goal at 22:28 was an unassisted strike. 

Lyons' junior goalkeeper Ali Hinton (Lafayette, Colo./Alexander Dawson School) made two saves in the victory, her team-leading second of the season. Bridgewater State first-year goalkeeper Courtney Banzi (Plymouth, Mass./Plymouth North) stopped 13 shots in her first collegiate start. The Blue and White outshot the visitors 35-4 and won the corners matchup, 5-3. 

Wheaton (3-0-0) travels to Williams College tomorrow for a non-conference matchup at 12 p.m. Bridgewater State (0-2-0) hosts Brandeis on Tuesday, September 9 at 3:30 p.m. The Lyons are now 6-1-0 all-time versus the Bears in a series which dates back to 1981.

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