Box Score
MADISON, Wis. – It was another record down and another game in the win column for Elaine Gerry and the Edgewood College women's soccer team. The Eagles defeated Maranatha Baptist Bible College 4-0 on a chilly Tuesday night at Breese Stevens Field.
With three goals and an assist to Elaine Gerry's credit, the freshman phenom set a new single season goals scored record at Edgewood College with 35, breaking the previous record of 34 set by Julie Veloff in 1998.
The native of Prairie du Sac didn't waste any time. Following the opening kickoff, Laura Marx quickly moved the ball ahead to Gerry who sprinted away from several Maranatha Baptist defenders and blasted one past the Crusaders' keeper to get the Eagles on the board in just thirty seconds.
Gerry's second goal came less than 15 minutes later. Bringing the ball up the right side, Tammi Hagensick sent one into the far corner for Angela Colletti who then crossed it to a slashing Gerry right in front of the goal for her record-tying score which gave the Eagles a 2-0 lead.
Gerry nearly set the mark in the first half after knifing her way through the Crusader defense and crossing a defender before firing a shot with her left towards the goal. The ball hit the left post and Marx was there to clean it up for her third goal of the season at the 22-minute mark.
The freshman from Sauk Prairie High School didn't even start the first two games of the season, but after firing off nine shots and scoring once in a short amount of playing time, it convinced Head Coach Tim Alexander that she deserved to be in the starting lineup.
The next game against Maryville (Mo.), Gerry recorded her first of seven hat tricks this season, including her performance in Tuesday's win over Maranatha Baptist. Then a month ago, Gerry embarked on a streak in which she scored 16 goals in four games putting her among the nation's elite goal scorers in NCAA Division III women's soccer. On October 4, she scored five times against Rockford to claim the freshman single season goals record which had stood at 25.
And then in the 51st minute on Tuesday, Gerry intercepted a goal kick and fired it past the outstretched hands of the Crusader goal keeper and into the back of the net to earn the dubious honor of most goals scored in a single season by an Eagle all-time.
Edgewood College possessed the ball as well as they had at any point in the season on Tuesday night. Rarely did Maranatha Baptist (8-7, 5-5 NAC) have the opportunity to put together a series of passes to get something started. The Eagles (14-3, 9-1 NAC) outshot the Crusaders 22-8 and held a 10-0 corner kick advantage.
Edgewood College shutout its fifth straight opponent and Ilana Bar-av made four saves to claim her eighth shutout of the season. The Eagles are 10-0 at home and will face a difficult task as they take on conference leading Aurora University at Breese Stevens Field at 11:00 a.m on Saturday.
