Senior Darian Murdock recorded her second hat trick of the season and third of her career, while junior Jamie Iurato tallied two goals of her own to pace Dixie State women’s soccer team to a 5-1 result over Chaminade on a windy Thursday night at Legend Solar Stadium.
The Trailblazers (5-1-0, 1-0-0 PacWest) led virtually wire-to-wire in their Pacific West Conference opener as Iurato scored the game’s first goal just 1:50 into play when she tucked in a ball from 6 yards out on a feed from Brooklyn Vogelsberg. Murdock followed with her first goal of the night midway through the 23rd minute as she headed in a ball played in by Montana Hadley from the left goal line.
The duo struck two more times in the first half as Iurato scored on a breakaway chance set up by passes from Kamie Hunter and Jill Bennett late in the 27th minute, while Murdock netted her second goal with five minutes remaining in the period off a Kelsey Cook feed, giving DSU a 4-0 lead at the intermission.
Chaminade (1-3-0, 0-1-0 PacWest) got one of the goals back early in the 59th minute, but Murdock answered two minutes later when she rocketed a shot from 25 yards out to provide the final margin of victory.
“We had another great start for today’s game,” DSU head coach Kacey Bingham said. “Jamie [Iurato] and Darian [Murdock] really stepped up and performed early, and they are a dangerous duo when they are on. We handled the wind really well in the first half, and I was proud of our effort today.”
Dixie State outshot Chaminade by a 27-8 count, including a 15-6 edge on goal. Sophomore keeper Felicity Tarr stopped four shots in 45 shutout minutes in the first half (DNP second half) to pick up the win in goal.
Murdock became just the third DSU player in the program’s NCAA era to post three career hat tricks. Former DSU forward Jennifer Mason (2011-14) achieved the feat a program-best four times in her four-year career, while Mikayla Wilkes (2006-09) recorded a pair of four-goal games, along with one other hat trick, in her four seasons at DSU.
Dixie State continues its five-match homestand as the Trailblazers welcome PacWest newcomer Biola on Saturday, Sept. 23, at 10 a.m.
Steve Johnson is the Associate Athletic Director for Media Relations and Collegiate Licensing at Dixie State University. For more DSU Athletics news, please visit www.dixieathletics.com and follow Dixie State on Twitter at @DixieAthletics.