The Emory University women's soccer team continued to roll Friday night, defeating Maryville College 5-1 in Maryville, TN for the team's fourth consecutive win.
Graduate transfer Mara Rodriguez and senior Kylie Hall shined on the offensive end as the Eagles improved to 5-2 overall while the Scots dropped to 5-3-1. Rodriguez notched the first collegiate goals of her career in grand fashion, recording a hat trick which marked the first three-goal performance for an Emory soccer player since 2018. For Hall, she continued to rack up assists at an impressive rate, picking up three more to give her nine on the season, the second-most in all of Division III this year. Hall also becomes the first player in Emory women's soccer history to turn in two games with three or more assists in a single season.
Rodriguez and Hall linked up to open the scoring, giving the Eagles the lead in the 17th minute. Hall intercepted a Maryville pass, dribbled around one defender before finding Rodriguez in the middle of the 18 for the score. The Emory lead increased to 2-0 seven minutes later when junior Mia Han found the back of the net. Freshman Samantha Lim sent a looping pass over several Scot defenders to Han, who then settled it prior to scoring from just outside the six.
The score remained 2-0 until the Eagles came out of the halftime break with a fury, scoring three goals in a matter of moments to take a 5-0 lead within the opening six minutes of the second half.
Rodriguez found the scoring column for the second time at the 46:41 mark as she collected a loose ball and fired a shot that was destined for the far post before senior Aubrey Blanchard got in on the action 44 seconds later. Hall sent a far pass into the box to Blanchard who in turn made a great quick cut to beat a defender prior to finding the right post.
Rodriguez provided the final score for the Eagles at the 50:47 mark, scoring from straight on for her third tally thanks to another assist from Hall. Maryville spoiled the shutout in the 79th minute as Maquel Besson scord on the feed from Hannah Smoot to provide the 5-1 final. Emory ended the night with a 28-3 advantage in shots and had 16 shots on goals compared to MVC's two.
The Eagles look to continue the winning streak Monday night when the team travels to Lookout Mountain for a non-conference matchup against Covenant College at 6:00 PM.