HARTSVILLE, S.C. — Maia Clark scored a hat trick as Coker University rallied in the second half for a 4-2 victory over Tusculum University in South Atlantic Conference women’s soccer Saturday afternoon.
Clark, the conference leader in both goals (12) and points (26), scored in the 28th, 62nd and 71st minutes for the Cobras (7-4-2, 4-4-1 SAC), who trailed 2-1 with 30 minutes left before scoring three straight goals.
Brynn Stokes and Sydney Grant scored for the Pioneers (3-9-1, 1-6-1 SAC), who were outshot 15-9 in the second half by the Cobras and 21-17 for the match. Tusculum keeper Noemie Tartrou made eight saves for the Pioneers.
Tusculum went up 1-0 at 20:17 as Grant booted a high, arcing pass into the box, where Stokes was able to get position and head home her first goal of the season past keeper Helena Sedelmaier.
The Pioneer lead lasted nearly six minutes before Clark got her first of the day at 27:12 as she went to the goal and tapped a pass from Isabella Rychel past Tartrou.
Grant put the Pioneers back on top 2-1 at 59:11 as she collected a pass from Wilma Axelsson, outran the defense and put the last touch past Coker keeper Rhyan Parkin to the near side for her fourth goal of the year.
Just over two minutes later, a pass from Clark inside the box went off the hand of a defender, resulting in a penalty kick that Clark shot to the left of Tartrou for the tying goal at 61:32.
Clark finished off the hat trick at 70:30 as a pass to the middle was tapped back from Lilly Borgman to Clark, who rolled a shot through traffic for her 12th goal of the season a 3-2 Cobras lead.
The Cobras kept up the pressure, nearly scoring in the 83rd minute as Mila Rausch was stopped on a dive by Tartrou and her rebound attempt was cleared off the line by Marja Enste. Rausch would get her third goal at 83:33 as she went top corner following a feed from Charlin Gross to extend Coker’s lead to 4-2.
Sedelmaier played goal in the first half for Coker and had four saves, with three saves in the second half by Parkin. Coker had seven corners to four for Tusculum, and both teams were flagged twice for offsides.
The Pioneers will play their fourth straight on the road on Tuesday, Oct. 29 at Mars Hill. The teams were scheduled to play Oct. 5 but the match was moved due to the aftermath of Helene.
