MIAMI ? Freshman Camilla Durrant (Loughborough, England) notched her first career hat-trick to lead Florida International past Troy, 6-0, Friday evening in Sun Belt Conference women's soccer action at University Park.
The hat-trick was FIU's first since Charissa Gingerich scored three against Arkansas-Little Rock back on Oct. 24, 2003, and the 15th in program history. FIU's six goals were the most the team has scored since that game against UALR (6-2) in 2003, while the six-goal margin of victory was the team's best since a 6-0 win over UALR on Oct. 19, 2001.
The Golden Panthers improved to 4-9 on the year and 2-5 in Sun Belt play, while the Trojans fell to 2-11-1 and 1-6 in conference.
Jennifer Currie made a game-high 12 saves for Troy while junior Madeline Gannon (Ft. Myers, Fla.) made one stop for FIU. Junior Jessica Vaccaro (Miami, Fla./Florida State/Killian HS) came in for the final 16 minutes but was not called upon to make any saves.
The Golden Panthers outshot the Trojans by a 36-4 margin and had a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks.
FIU scored on the game's first shot as sophomore Maria Gualdron (Miami, Fla./Felix Varela) left the ball for senior Cassidy Proctor (St. Louis, Mo.) who ran and struck a 25-yard shot into the upper left side of the goal for her second tally of the year.
Durrant nearly made it a two-goal advantage in the 14th minute when she ran onto a through ball from freshman Nanna Rasmussen (Odense, Denmark). Durrant was able to get the ball past the onrushing keeper, and then shot toward the open net before it was cleared away by Trojan defender Erin Kniery.
Durrant made no mistake with her next opportunity. After senior Valerie Patrick (Littleton, Colo.) had her header blocked, Durrant got a hold of the rebound and fired a shot off the keeper's outstretched hands into the upper left side of the goal. It was her second goal of the season.
The Trojans had an opportunity to pull one back in the 39th minute when Alana Hawk saw her shot from 30 yards go just wide of the left post and into the side netting.
The Golden Panthers made it 3-0 just before halftime when junior Kristin Hurst's (Miami, Fla./Felix Varela) cross was inadvertently knocked in by Kniery for an own goal.
Durrant added her second in the 48th minute. Freshman Marina Pappas (Lancaster, Pa.) sent a low cross from the goal line and Durrant redirected the cross into the back of the neet at the near left post.
Rasmussen made it 5-0 in the 54th minute after a corner kick was headed out of the box to the forward, who then fired a shot from the top of the box into the upper right corner of the goal for her third tally of the season.
Durrant completed her hat-trick in the 60th minute in fine fashion after getting on the end of a Gualdron cross and connecting with a volley that went just below the crossbar and in.
FIU came close on two other occasions in the second half. Pappas had a header hit the post in the 54th minute, while Proctor nearly had a second when her 56th-minute effort from 20 yards hit the crossbar.
The Golden Panthers are back in action at University Park on Sunday at 3 p.m. for a senior day Sun Belt Conference matchup against South Alabama.
