West's Hat-Trick Lifts Panthers To 5-4 Opening Night Victory

Friday, August 23

Pittsburgh, PA

7 PM

Pitt

1-0-0

Loyola Marymount

0-1-0

Loyola Marymount

Pittsburgh

Photo by: Matt Hawley/Pitt Athletics

West's Hat-Trick Lifts Panthers To 5-4 Opening Night Victory

8/23/2019 10:05:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score Photo Gallery

PITTSBURGH – Freshman forward Amanda West became the first Panther since 2015 to score a hat-trick as she lifted the Pittsburgh women's soccer team to a season-opening 5-4 victory over Loyola Marymount on Friday night at Ambrose Urbanic Field. West finished off her night with three goals, an assist and seven points as Pitt posted their first five-goal game as a team since 2015.

The basics

Score: Pittsburgh 5, Loyola Marymount 4
Records: Pittsburgh (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC), Loyola Marymount (0-1-0, 0-0-0 WCC)
Pitt Goal Scorers: Athalie Palomo (1), Amanda West 3 (3), Juliana Vazquez (1)
Pitt Assists: Anna Rico 2 (2), Amanda West (1), Athalie Palomo (1)
Loyola Marymount Goal Scorer: Simone Handy (1), Ali King (1), Jackie Fiacco (1), Maki Kono (1)
Loyola Marymount Assists: Gabbie Sanfilippo (1), Simone Handy (1)
Location: Pittsburgh, PA | Amrbose Urbanic Field
Attendance: 670

STARTING LINEUPS

Pittsburgh: Amaia Pena, Mackenzie Edwards, Juliana Vazquez, Margret Arnadottir, Amanda West, Anna Bout, Athalie Palomo, Kate McKay, Krystyna Rytel, Aideen O'Donoghue, Anna Rico
Loyola Marymount: Lee Erickson, Jalyn Lupo, Phoebe Riley, Simone Handy, Maki Kono, Ali King, Gabbie McWilliams, Dana Reed, Skylar Robledo, Madison Wener, Gabbie Sanfilippo

How it happened

The Panthers were able to get on the board first in the 12^th minute as sophomore Anna Rico drew a foul just outside the box to earn a free kick. On the ensuing attempt, Rico touched a pass to Athalie Palomo who buried her first career goal into the upper left corner of the net.
Loyola Marmount didn't waste much time to get the equalizer as in the 22^nd minute, Simone Handy took a shot that was partially blocked by a Pitt defender and found the upper left corner.
The Lions took the 2-1 lead in the 30^th minute as Ali King headed home a cross off the foot of Simone Handy.
In the 48^th minute, Amanda West finished off her first career goal as Anna Rico crossed a great ball into the box where West buried the ball into the left corner of the net to tie the game, 2-2.
After the Panthers tied the game back up, the Lions regained the lead in the 62^nd minute as Jackie Fiacco finished off a loose ball into the left corner of the Pitt goal.
Pitt came right back to tie the game, 3-3, in the 65^th minute as Amanda West drew a foul inside the box to earn a penalty shot. On the ensuing penalty shot, West buried her second goal of the game into the left corner of the net.
The lead went back to the visitors in the 70^th minute as Maki Kono blasted one past the outstretched arm of Amaia Pena into the upper left corner of the goal from 25 yards out, giving the Lions the 4-3 edge.
Pitt responded quickly with the equalizer in the 82^nd minute as Juliana Vazquez netted her first goal of the season as she buried a rebound after a hard shot from West.
Two minutes later, West was able to send the fans home happy as she netted the eventual game-winner and her third of the game to give Pitt the 5-4 victory. West used her speed to get free down the left flank before dribbling into the box and beating the keeper to the lower right corner for the goal.

Inside the numbers

The win marks the third straight season opening victory for the Panthers.
Pitt improves to 14-7-3 overall in season openers and 8-0-2 when they open up their regular season on home turf.
The Panthers now own the 1-0-0 record against Loyola Marymount in the all-time series.
Freshman Amanda West finished off her impressive debut with three goals and an assist as she becomes the first freshman in program history to score a hat-trick in her collegiate debut.
West also becomes the first Panther since 2015 to net a hat-trick in a game. Her seven-points are the most in a game since 2001 when Netta Agredano netted seven against St. Francis (PA).
Freshman Athalie Palomo scored her first career goal in the victory.
Senior captain Juliana Vazquez scored the third goal of her career in the second half.
Anna Rico finished off her night with two assists and two shots in the win, marking her first career multi-assist game for the Panthers.
Head coach Randy Waldrum now has 404 career head coaching victories, ranking 14^th in NCAA history.
Loyola Marymount held the slim 14-11 edge in shots for the match.
Amaia Pena finished off her night with four saves while her counterpart Lee Erickson finished with five in the loss.
Six Panthers earned their first career start on Friday night, Mackenzie Edwards, Margret Arnadottir, Amanda West, Anna Bout, Athalie Palomo and Krystyna Rytel.