HUNTINGDON, Pa. – The Juniata College women's soccer team defeated Penn St.-Altoona 6-0 Thursday afternoon on Winton Hill Field. Sophomore Shayna King (Easton, Pa./Easton Area HS) scored two header goals in the second half to complete the first hat trick of her career.
She is only the sixth Eagle to accomplish the feat since 1998, the last being Rebecca Shoaf in 2004.
"[Shay] is a killer in the air," said Juniata Head Coach Scott MMcKenzie. "We have worked a lot on being more effective in the air. Shay has done a great job of that."
Junior Paula Pryor (Westbrookville, N.Y./Burke Catholic) added two goals of her own in the Eagles sixth shutout of the season.
"Paula is a great finisher," said McKenzie. "She is a speed threat and teams will have to figure out what to do with her."
Juniata (6-0-1) scored within the first minute of play. King took a pass from freshman Michaela Lacek (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern HS) to earn her first goal of the year.
Junior Jenna Rodrigue (Manchester, Conn./Manchester) sent a perfect through pass to Pryor at the 8:40 mark. Pryor went one-on-one with the goalie and sent the ball into the top right of the net to give Juniata the 2-0 lead.
After the break, sophomore Cara Spiess (Spring City, Pa./The Hill School) found King off a corner kick and King headed in her second goal of the day.
Pryor then took advantage of a misplayed ball by a Penn St.-Altoona defender less than six minutes later to score her second goal of the match, fifth of the season.
With King and Pryor owning all of the Eagles goals heading into the 67th minute, freshman Emily Green (Marietta, Pa./Donegal HS) decided to join the action. She juked a defender inside the box and sent her third goal of the season into the upper right corner.
The score held at 5-0 until with less than 1:30 to play, King headed in a cross pass from junior Delaney Lackey (Towson, Md./Saint Timothy's School) to give the Eagles their second 6-0 victory of the season.
Juniata outshot the Lady Lions 26-6 in the contest and handed Penn St.-Altoona (0-7) its fifth straight scoreless match.
"We are seven games in and have allowed only one goal," added McKenzie. "Our defense is paying superbly and that is a team defense mentality. It's an attitude defensively that applies pressure to the opponent. It's a mentality that our team has developed to not give our opponent anything easy."
The Eagles travel to Saint Vincent this Saturday, Sept. 22. Juniata is looking for redemption after falling 1-0 to the Bearcats last year in an evenly played match. Game time is set for 1 p.m. on the Saint Vincent Turf field.
