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West Hartford, Conn. - An offensive outburst for the Hawks led to the Hartford women's soccer team remaining unbeaten in 2011 with a 5-1 victory over the Temple Owls on Sunday afternoon. The Hawks improve to 3-0-1 on the season, while the Owls record evens out at 2-2-0. Junior striker Amélia Pereira provided a large part of the offense with a goal and two assists on the afternoon.
The Hawks struck early with a pair of goals less than two minutes apart and less than 10 minutes into the game to give the home team an early 2-0 lead.
The first goal at Al-Marzook Field for the Hawks came as the first career goal for junior midfielder Julianne Oberholtzer as she accepted a centering pass from senior Arielle Aikens and knocked it home. Oberholtzer's scoring shot eluded Temple keeper Tara Murphy to the opposite side of the net, just inside the right corner.
One minute and 50 seconds later, the Hawks struck again, this time with the play starting off a corner kick from defenseman Shealagh Begley. Begley's kick landed at the feet of Michele DeSanti who past it towards the goal was Caitlin Alves chipped it off the back of her foot over the line, from just over a yard out. Alves goal was the team-leading third of the season for the junior from Ludlow, Mass.
Begley's strong corner kick would prove helpful once again as the Hawks added a third goal before the halftime break. This time her corner found the feet of Pereira who passed ahead to DeSanti who despite falling down recovered to send her first goal of the season to the back of the twine.
Following the first 45 minutes of the game, the Hawks held a 6-2 advantage in shots and a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks, while knocking starting keeper for the Owls, Tara Murphy, out of the game at the break.
Following the intermission, the Hawks struck again and early with back-to-back goals in the 48th and 49th minutes to extend their lead to 5-0. The first goal was the first of the season for red-shirt senior Mary Beth Hamilton who connected with Pereira for the tally. Pereira provided a long pass ahead of the defense to Hamilton, who tracked it down and scored with a shot across the front of the goal to the opposite top corner of the net. The goal was the sixth of her career.
Just over a minute later, Pereira would find the back of the net herself, scoring her second goal of the season, off a breakaway attempt. Pereira worked her way around the defense to the outside and chipped a pass to herself over the keeper who had come out of the six-yard box. She then finished with a hard blast through the center of the net.
The Owls would manage to break the shutout in the 76th minute when two failed clearing attempts for the Hawks led to an unassisted goal for Niki Conn, her first of the season. Conn found the ball in front of the net about four years out after a clearing header provided unsuccessful. She sent the ball to the lower right corner, past a diving Brodeur.
The Hawks will return to Al-Marzook Field at Alumni Stadium for their next game on Thursday, September 8, when they welcome the Quinnipiac Bobcats into West Hartford for a Nutmeg State clash. The Hawks and Bobcats are scheduled to kickoff at 7:00 p.m. under the lights.
