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By:
Josh Fuller
COLUMBUS – Freshman
Flo Spano scored her first career goal and much more as the top-ranked Columbus State University women's soccer team blanked USC Aiken 7-0 Saturday afternoon at the Walden Soccer Complex. It was the Peach Belt Conference opener for both teams.
Spano scored her first goal of the game in the 25th minute and never looked back tallying goals in the 73rd and 84th minutes for the 12th hat trick in CSU history. The freshman also assisted on two other Lady Cougar goals to register eight points in the match to set a new program record for points in a single match
"Overall, I thought we played really well," said head coach
Jay Entlich. "I was pleased with our bench performance and thought we did a better job in the second half closing out scoring chances. We still have a long way to go to work on our consistency.
"Flo had a great performance today and she really deserved it," continued Entlich. "She has been great in training and I hope this allows her to build some confidence for the remainder of the season."
Columbus State's (4-1, 1-0 PBC) offense started quickly as the Lady Cougars fired off seven shots in the first 15 minutes. In the 16th,
Hugrun Elvarsdottir got CSU on the board thanks to a rocket shot.
Taylor Marks played the ball to the junior inside the box before Elvarsdottir sent the shot pass the goalkeeper.
After subbing in just one minute earlier, Spano struck in the 25th minute to put the Lady Cougars up 2-0.
Nicole Corcione gave a great give-and-go pass to set up the freshman.
A freshman-to-freshman connection gave Columbus State its third goal of the half. In the 28th minute, Spano found
Riley Clark at the top of the box. Clark fired to the upper right 90 for her second goal of the season.
The Lady Cougars made it 4-0 in the 52nd minute on their first shot of the second half. On a short corner kick,
Mandy Janowitz sent a great ball into the middle of the box that found Jarrell. The sophomore calmly beat the keeper to the left for her third goal of the year.
Columbus State scored its final three goals in just over a 10-minute stretch. Spano got it started in the 73rd minute thanks to great passing.
Keyle Snyder sent a pass to
Delaney Borror, who then slid the ball into Spano. The freshman then finished to the left side of the net to make it 5-0.
Atalia Ramirez got in on the scoring in the 79th minute for her first goal of the year. It was Spano who set up the senior with a great long pass that allowed Ramirez to one-time the goal.
Spano capped off her hat trick in the 84th minute finishing off a one-versus-one opportunity with the goalkeeper. Borror assisted on the goal for her second helper of the match.
Columbus State outshot USC Aiken 39-2, including 14-0 in the second half. CSU also won the corner advantage 16-0.
The win was the 11th straight for CSU at the Walden Soccer Complex and the Lady Cougar unbeaten streak against PBC opponents now sits at 31 matches.
CSU will now prepare for a top-25 showdown against 12th-ranked North Georgia on Wednesday, September 21. The match is set to begin at 6 p.m. in Dahlonega.
