Hatch's second hat trick this year leads No. 3 BYU in 4-0 win over USF

PROVO, Utah – Ashley Hatch’s second hat trick of the year propelled No. 3 BYU women’s soccer to a 4-0 shutout win over San Francisco at South Field on Monday.

"We had a lack of energy to start, which is frustrating," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "The high pressure just wasn't there. We told them they had to find some energy because everything was on the line. It's hard sometimes when we know what we're capable of. It was great to see us score off of a corner kick. That kind of settled us down and broke the ice."

BYU vs. San Francisco Box Score

With the win, the Cougars improved to 10-1-1, 1-0-1 in West Coast Conference play. BYU outshot San Francisco (4-7-0, 0-2-0 WCC) 18 to 11, including nine shots on goal.

For the third time in her career, Hatch recorded a hat trick, her second in 2016. The other goal came from Elena Medeiros, who also notched an assist. All four goals came in the first 16 minutes of the second half. Michele Vasconcelos led the team in assists with two.

Rachel Boaz saw the field for the first time since injuring her hand against Penn State toward the end of August. She came in for Hannah Clark in the second half. Between the two goalkeepers, BYU recorded three saves, two coming from Clark.

The two teams played to a scoreless first half. The Cougars had a slight advantage in the stat totals with six shots and two corner kicks to the Dons’ four shots and one corner kick.

BYU came out strong in the second half with two goals in the first five minutes, both coming from the boot of Hatch.

The first goal was scored in the 54th minute. Alyssa Jefferson crossed it to Hatch to head it into the goal. That was the first assist of Jefferson’s career.

Just 20 seconds later, Medeiros’ shot was deflected by the goalie, but Hatch was there again to kick in the rebound, pushing the Cougars to a 2-0 lead.

In the 58th minute, Vasconcelos set up Medeiros for the third goal of the game. The three goals for BYU were scored over the span of three minutes and 17 seconds.

Hatch earned the hat trick in the 61st minute. After the Dons’ goalkeeper dove for the ball kicked by Medeiros, Hatch beat her and went around for the easy goal to extend the Cougars’ lead to 4-0.

BYU heads back on the road to continue West Coast Conference play at Loyola Marymont and Peperdine on Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The game against the Lions on Thursday will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 7 p.m. PDT. It will also be available on the Cougar IMG Sports Network, which can be found on BYU Radio (Sirius XM 143) and ESPN 960 AM.