BELMONT, NC - Belmont Abbey freshman forward Erin Thibodeau
recorded her first career hat trick and junior forward Erin Kolb
added the other and recorded an assist as the Crusaders extended
its unbeaten streak to ten and its winning streak to nine as it
shutout Lees-McRae 4-0 this afternoon. The Abbey improves to 13-3-1
overall and completes the CVAC regular season with a 9-1-1 mark,
while the Bobcats fall to 5-10-1 overall and 2-7-1 in the CVAC.
Kolb gave the Abbey the only goal it would need in the 27th
minute. After being taken down in the box and awarded a penalty
kick, she buried her tenth goal of the year to give the Abbey a 1-0
lead.
The lead remained at 1-0 through the first half, and Thibodeau
extended it to 2-0 in the 51st minute. Junior midfielder Stephanie
Leotti dribbled down the right side and sent a cross to the center
of the box, where Thibodeau ripped a blast past Anita Hickman for
her sixth goal of the year.
13 minutes later, Thibodeau built the lead to 3-0 as Kolb fed
her a pass into the center of the box where she fired a blast into
the center of the net for her second goal of the afternoon.
In the 68th minute, Thibodeau recorded her first career hat
trick, as junior Jill Barnes slid a pass to junior Lauren Strebler,
who fired pass ahead to Thibodeau. Thibodeau beat Hickman to the
ball, sidestepped her and tapped in her third goal of the afternoon
and her eighth of the year as the Abbey went on to win, 3-0.
The Crusaders outshot Lees-McRae 28-2, as Kolb led the way with
eight shots. Leotti and Thibodeau added four. Hickman collected 15
saves, while Abbey goalkeeper Anna Wells made one before giving way
to senior Laisha Lentz in the 68th minute.
The Abbey has now shutout five of its last six opponents and
during the ten match unbeaten streak it has outscored its opponents
26-3. For the year it has outscored its opponents 45-15.
Belmont Abbey is back in action Sunday as it closes out the
regular season when it travels to Savannah, Georgia for a matchup
against Armstrong Atlantic State. Kickoff is set for 5:00 p.m.
