ERIE, Pa. – The freshman class continues to pay dividends for the Gannon University women's soccer team.
This time, it was freshman midfielder
Grace Emanuel's (Erie, Pa./McDowell) turn in the spotlight. She struck for two first-half goals and then recorded the hat trick with a second-half strike on Wednesday in a 4-2 victory over Slippery Rock in a PSAC West showdown at McConnell Family Stadium.
Gannon improved to 5-2-1 overall and moved alone into second place in the PSAC West with a 5-1-0 mark. Slippery Rock dropped to 5-3-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the Western Division. Gannon now trails first-place Mercyhurst (6-0, 18 points) by three points and leads SRU by two points.
It was the first collegiate hat trick for Emanuel, who entered the game with one goal.
She was joined in the scoring column by another freshman, forward
Brooklyn Respecki (McKean, Pa./General McLane). She scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season and assisted on one of Emanuel's goals.
Despite the efforts of the two freshmen, this was an all-around team effort against a Slippery Rock team that entered the evening one points ahead of Gannon in the PSAC West standings. Gannon played strong defense until SRU struck for back-to-back late goals.
Respecki now leads Gannon with five goals, four assists, 14 points. Emanuel, who missed some early games with an injury, ranks second with four goals and eight points.
Gannon outshot Slippery Rock 30-7, including 12-3 in shots on goal. That is the second consecutive PSAC West game in which GU has dominated in the shots column after outshooting
California (Pa.) 34-6 in a 2-1 win on Saturday. Respecki had eight shots while Emanuel had seven.
The GU women's win was one half of a highly successful doubleheader for Gannon soccer on Wednesday. In the night game, the Gannon men downed rival Mercyhurst 5-1.
The Gannon women will be back in action at McConnell Family Stadium on Saturday at 1 p.m. when the Knights host Seton Hill.
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