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CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – The first-ever hat trick in the history of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi women's soccer was recorded Sunday by junior
Samantha Palomino in a 5-0 victory over Texas Southern at Dugan Stadium.
The Islanders (1-0) won their season opener for the first time in program history. The five goal win tied the program record for largest margin of victory, which coincidentally was set in a 5-0 win over Texas Southern (0-2) in 2019.
"Obviously winning 5-0 is great but I am more impressed with the way we played, the way we fought and the way we came together as a team," said head coach
Craig Shaw. "Now we prepare for our rival game next week."
For Palomino, it was the first three goals of her career after playing as a defender her first two seasons. Sunday was her first regular season game as a forward and she scored in the 7th, 55th and 84th minutes.
Also with goals in the game were freshman
Megan Guy and senior
Reaghan Lang. It was the first career goal for Guy and the second for Lang, not counting a penalty kick in a shootout in the conference tournament last season against Stephen F. Austin.
The Islanders outshot the Tigers 18-7, including a 14-5 disparity in shots in goal.
Freshman
Emily Levy registered her first career clean sheet in net and earned the win after playing all 90 minutes and made five saves. Levy was supported by sophomore
Emma Herrera who also logged 90 minutes as a defender.
The scoring kicked off in the seventh minute. The play began with sophomore
Reese Cross intercepting a pass near midfield. She made a run down the right side and dumped it down the right wing to fellow sophomore
Natalie Gonzalez who sent a centering pass into Palomino for a left-footed finish inside the six-yard box.
The Islanders increased the lead to 2-0 near the end of the first half. Freshman
Raegan Sharer launched a deep through-ball that traveled from one end of the field to the other and connected with Guy who took one dribble and fired a shot into the high right corner of the goal from just inside the penalty box on the right side.
In the second half, A&M-Corpus Christi was awarded a free kick after freshman
Storm Harris was held from behind on a fast-break, which may have resulted in a goal. Junior
Emma Gibbs took the free kick, and a ball that bounced around in front of the keeper was cleaned up by Palomino for her second tally.
The Islanders weren't done there and tacked-on two more goals in the final seven minutes. Palomino completed the hat trick in the 84th minute by cranking a big left-footed shot into the top left corner of the net. The play was setup by Gonzalez whose through-ball found Palomino with space at the top of the box.
The final score came on a penalty kick by Lang. The penalty was awarded after Gonzalez was taken down by the keeper in the box as Gonzalez had better position on a long pass into the middle.
A&M-Corpus Christi improved to 4-0 all-time against TSU and has outscored the Tigers 17-1 over those four match-ups.
Up next, the Islanders will play their first regular season road game when they travel to UTRGV on Friday for the South Texas Showdown at 7 p.m., presented by NavyArmy Community Credit Union.
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