LA JOLLA, Calif. - Shelby Wong scored a hat trick Thursday, leading the No. 14 UC San Diego women's soccer team to a 5-0 rout of Western Washington in a non-conference contest that could end up being critical to regional rankings and postseason positioning.
After tallying one score in 2008, Wong entered the match with three goals this season. Wong, a sophomore midfielder out of Danville, Calif., doubled her 2009 total on Thursday against the Vikings, combining slick moves and well-placed blasts to net UCSD's first hat trick since Megan Dickey poured in four goals against Central Washington on Sept. 5, 2005.
"We were really pumped up before the game," Wong said. "The energy was great out there and we were doing a really good job of talking to each other."
Sophomore Anne Wethe and freshman Jessica Wi each recorded two assists on the evening and sophomore Sarah McTigue and freshman Alexa Enlow added late scores, helping the Tritons improve to 10-2 overall. WWU, a squad that topped defending national champion and No. 1 ranked Seattle Pacific last week, drops to 6-4-2 overall while holding the No. 7 position in the latest NCAA Division II West Region poll.
UCSD got the scoring going in the 12th minute as one-timer passes from Wi and then Wethe on the left side left Wong with a one-on-one situation with Vikings' senior goalkeeper Kylie Broadbent. Taking her time, Wong sent a well-placed shot into the right side of the net.
Just 34 seconds later, Wong netted her second score of the match. After a long pass up the field from Wethe, Wong made two shifting moves on her defender and fired a blast past Broadbent into the upper right corner of the goal.
After the Tritons took a 2-0 advantage into halftime, Wong struck for her third score at the 60:03 mark. This time it was freshman forward Gabi Hernandez earning the assist, sending a cross toward Wong on the left side. Dribbling with pace toward the 18, Wong sent a hard shot to the left of Broadbent.
Roughly three minutes later UCSD added another score. With McTigue and Wi orchestrating a give-and-go on the right side, McTigue ended up with the ball at her feet at the top of the 18. From there she stopped and lined a shot to the upper left of the net to extend the Tritons' lead to 4-0.
The fifth and final score for UCSD on the night came at the 80:58 mark off of a corner kick from junior Remy Hitt. Freshman midfielder Alexa Enlow, well-positioned in the box, sent a header from eight yards out to the left of WWU backup netminder Jamie Arthurs, who had replaced Broadbent in the 76th minute. It was Enlow's first score of her career.
The Tritons outshot the Vikings 19-9 as Wong and McTigue combined for 11 of those attempts. UCSD goalkeepers Kristin Armstrong and Kimberly Cushing combined for the shutout with Armstrong recording three stops in 75 minutes played and Cushing picking up one save in the final 15 minutes of the match.
UCSD scored five times earlier this season in a 5-0 home win over Dixie State on Sept. 5. Before that victory the last time the Tritons tallied five goals was on Sept. 2, 2007.
UCSD, ranked No. 4 in this week's NCAA D-II West Region rankings, makes its return to the pitch on Sunday when it hosts Cal State East Bay at 2:30 p.m. The Pioneers hold an overall record of 3-7-3 while going 2-5-2 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
