INDIANA, Pa. - The IUP women's soccer team (1-0-0, 0-0-0 PSAC West) opened the 2019 season with a resounding 5-0 home victory over the visiting Lady Pioneers of Glenville State College (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MEC) on Saturday afternoon at the South Campus Fields. 

The Crimson Hawks offense was led by last season's leading scorer Mahogany Willis who scored four goals to tie the program record for goals in a single game. Willis also added an assist to her work on the day to have a hand in all five of the Crimson Hawks' goals. The sophomore forward's nine points set a new school record for points in a single game, breaking the previous mark of eight set by Jessica Dominguez in 1999.

Freshman forward Samantha Joyce was IUP's other goal scorer against Glenville State, as she netted her first collegiate goal on Saturday. Joyce also picked up her first career college assist as well, setting up Willis's first goal in the 14th minute of the match. Joyce was one of three IUP freshman to record their first career points, with Lindsey Swontek and Alayna Ryan also helping to set up Willis.

The Crimson Hawks dominated the match pretty much from the start against the visiting Lady Pioneers, racking up six shots in the first 10 minutes and having several great chances to score go just wide of the net. The Crimson Hawks finally broke the deadlock in the 14th minute after Joyce set Willis up with a breakaway opportunity. After missing a few chances earlier in the match, Willis made no mistake this time, calmly slotting the ball past the Glenville goalkeeper to give IUP the lead. Less than two minutes later Willis would turn provider, setting up Joyce for her first goal in the 16th minute and doubling the IUP lead.

Despite several good opportunities to add to the lead as the half progressed, the Crimson Hawks offense was stymied for the rest of the first period, and entered the halftime break with a solid 2-0 lead.  IUP didn't have to wait long for the breakthrough to come in the second haf though, as in the 58th minute Willis scored off of a feed from Swontek to put the game out of reach for IUP. However, she was far from done scoring, as a quick fire brace just just a minute and twenty seconds apart in the 65th and 67th minutes took her personal goal tally in the game to four, and stretched the IUP lead to five.

While Willis's name dominated the score sheet on Saturday, it was a fairly complete team performance for the Crimson Hawks, as the IUP defense limited Glenville to three shots in the game, with goalkeepers Madeline Smakulski and Maria Tunney combining to earn the shutout. On the other side of the ball the IUP offense recorded 24 shots in the game to underline the comprehensive nature of the win. 

Up next
The Crimson Hawks (1-0-0, 0-0-0, PSAC West) will host Cal U to open conference play on Wednesday, September 11th. Kickoff is set for 4:00 p.m. at the South Campus Fields.
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's soccer on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPsoccer.