Utica, N.Y. -- The #16 women's soccer team (4-1-0, 1-0-0 Empire 8) opened conference play with a 6-0 rout of host Utica (1-4-0, 0-1-0 Empire 8) Wednesday. Sophomore
Rachael Palladino (Groton/Lansing) tied a school record with four goals.
Palladino scored Ithaca's first three goals, collecting her first career hat trick in the match's first 22 minutes. Her fourth goal of the contest, which came in the 60th minute, tied Ithaca's single-game record which was set by freshman
Jackie Rodabaugh (Central Mountain/Mill Hall, Pa.) four games earlier.
Rodabaugh finished with a career-high three assists (one short of Ithaca's school record), assisting on
Palladino's first goal -- just 2:22 in -- and her record-tying score.
Palladino has now scored 22 points in five matches (nine goals, four assists) and
Rodabaugh has collected 17 (six goals, five assists).
With 53 career points (21 goals, 11 assists),
Palladino has already moved into 14th on the program's all-time top 20.
Sophomore
Caroline Jastremski (Notre Dame Academy/Staten Island) scored her first goal of the season converting a
Rodabaugh pass from 20 yards out in the second half.
Sophomore
Kaitlyn Hoffay (Ithaca/Ithaca) closed out the scoring with her first career goal. Freshman
Anna Gray (Delmar/Bethlehem) added the assist for her first collegiate point.
Sophomore
Julie Winn (Sutton/Sutton, Mass.) picked up an assist for the third match in a row, sending a corner kick that
Palladino headed in for her third goal of the game.
Junior
Megan Trager (Sharon/Sharon, Mass.) also assisted on a
Palladino goal, tipping a pass that led to a breakaway in the 15th minute. The assist was the ninth of her career and her first point of the season.
Ithaca outshot the Pioneers 26-1 with senior
Alyssa Sotomayor (East Brunswick/East Brunswick, N.J.) saving Utica's only shot. Sotomayor and sophomore
Becca Salant (Holliston/Holliston, Mass.) shared the shutout with Salant's 15:52 in net marking the longest stretch of her career.
The Bombers, who've won nine straight Empire 8 matches and 13 consecutive contests against conference opponents overall, continue league play Saturday at Stevens.
Box score