RADNOR, Pa. - Eastern University women's soccer defeated rival Cabrini University 3-0 on Wednesday night. Emily Cole recorded a hat trick netting two second half goals to deliver the Eagles to victory.

Cole headed home the game-winner in the 11th minute off a beautiful corner kick from Courtney Davis. Despite several chances for both sides, the early goal held up as the only score of the first half.

"I loved our sequence leading up to the first goal," said Head Coach Dan Mouw. "We have been working in training to try to find width, and we were able to create a great channel for Courtney to exploit. She won the corner, and we executed it well."

Nicole Weenink had a chance to stretch the lead from close range six minutes later, but Cabrini goalkeeper Gabby LeGendre was up to the challenge. 

The Cavaliers (0-2) had a pair of  opportunities to tie the match around the halfway point of the first half. In the 18th minute, Adrianna Rowalnds pushed a high shot into the crossbar and was able to gather the rebound in front of the net. In the 25th minute, the Cavaliers had a chance in transition, but Davis showed recovered to cut off the angle and force a shot right at Rowlands.    

Between those two chances for the Cavaliers, Sia Kontanis ripped a 24 yard shot that curled just wide of the top corner. Just before halftime, Eastern was awarded a free kick opportunity around midfield. Davis played the ball into the top box, and Alondra Cervantes came flying in to get a head on the ball but whistled it just wide of the near post keeping the score at 1-0 heading into the break.   

Less than two minutes inot the second half, Cole extended the Eastern lead with a one-time finish of a well-weighted through ball from Katy Laurie. Laurie's pass put Cole into a perfect spot behind the Cavalier back row and in front of the sliding LeGendre.

"We had some nice diversity in our attack," continued Mouw. "Emily did her thing finishing, but we were able to create chances from a lot of different angles."

Cole completed the hat trick in the 80th minute finishing off yet another thru ball from Laurie. Laurie gathered the ball at midfield slotted a ball behind defense and in front of Cole. Cole pushed her shot inside the far post for her fifth of the year. Cole now has eight multi-goal games in her career.

Eastern outshot the Cavaliers 18-7 and put ten shots on net. Rowlands and Leah Lozzi combined for four saves to post the Eagles' first shutout of the season. 

"This was an important game for us," concluded Mouw. "We have a big stretch of games coming up, and it was good for our team to pick up a little momentum. We are looking forward to being home this Saturday."

Eastern hosts Dickinson College on September 10th at 11:30 AM in the Eagles' home opener.