Weyant's hat trick gives Bruins season-opening win

SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Emily Weyant scored an opening match to give the Bellevue women's soccer team a 3-1 victory over Morningside College in the season-opener for both schools at Elwood Olsen Stadium.

Records:

Bellevue: 1-0-0
Morningside: 0-1-0

Recap:

Emily Weyant scored a pair of first half goals to stake the Bruins to a 2-0 halftime lead.

BU out-shot Morningside 5-1 in the opening period, putting all five of their attempts on frame while the Mustangs were unable to register a shot on target.

Weyant opened the scoring in the eighth minute off a corner kick. Emma Phillipson sent a ball into the box that Saskia Pepel headed back to Weyant who beat Morningside keeper Sarah Finn with a one-time attempt.

Weyant added a second in the 22^nd minute to double the Bruin lead. Jayda Noble played a pass ahead and Weyant dribbled in on goal and blasted a shot over Finn's shoulder.

Morningside got a goal back in the 50^th minute. Sabrina Staufenbiel's failed clearance was deflected by Morningside's Paytn Harmon and into the back of the net to make it 2-1.

Weyant restored the Bruins' two-goal advantage in the 75^th minute. After taking a pass from Taylan Murphey out of the back, Weyant possessed the ball and beat substitute keeper Maleah Richter to complete the hat trick.

Bellevue finished the game with an 11-5 advantage in shots (8-2 on target) and Morningside edged the Bruins 6-4 in corner kicks.

Coach Tom White:

"The ladies gave everything for the badge today. In the first half, we created chances and were ruthless. We must learn to manage games going forward but we stuck with it and got a great result."

"We have a lot of new players and some playing their first collegiate game so it's great for all of them to get a game under their belt."

Player of the Game:

Emily Weyant - scored her third career hat trick and was a major influencer in creating additional chances on the offensive end.

Up Next:

Bellevue travels to Oskaloosa, Iowa on Saturday, Aug. 17 for a 1 p.m. kick-off against William Penn at Lacey Complex Stadium.

Notes:

• Bellevue wins their season-opener for the first time since defeating Northwestern 2-0 to open the 2014 season.
• The Bruins improve to 16-8-2 all-time in season-openers and 8-2-1 all-time against Morningside.
• Weyant's hat trick was the first by a Bruin since Weyant herself scored three goals against Fisher College on Oct. 11, 2018.
• The hat trick by Weyant was the third of her career. She also accomplished the feat against College of St. Mary (Sept. 15, 2018) and Fisher (Oct. 11, 2018).