University of Connecticut Athletics
Gjertsen's Hat Trick Leads Huskies Past Central
8/31/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
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STORRS, CT (August 31) -- Jessica Gjertsen (Stony Plain, Alberta) notched her first hat-trick as a Husky Sunday afternoon to lead the University of Connecticut women’s soccer team to a 4-1 victory over intrastate rival Central Connecticut in the finale of the UConn/adidas Classic at Morrone Stadium in Storrs, Conn. With the victory Connecticut improves to 1-0-1 on the season, while the Blue Devils drop to 1-1-0.
Gjertsen, who sat out most of the 2002 season due to a knee injury, showed no signs of rust Sunday as she quickly got UConn on the board just 3:52 into the game. Gjertsen found herself open on the right side and blasted the ball into the left side of the goal. Freshman phenom Megan Schnur (Butler, PA) has made an immediate impact on the Husky offense this season and today was no exception as she controlled a pass from Kristen Graczyk (Albuquerque, NM) outside the six and punched it in to give Connecticut a 2-0 advantage.
However, Central showed no signs of backing down, as Kelly Shimmin took advantage of a miscue by UConn keeper Erin Rice (Keller, TX) and put CCSU on the board. CCSU looked like they would hang around, but the Husky offensive attack took over in the second half as Gjertsen seemed to beat the defense down the filed on every possession. Gjertsen scored an unassisted goal at 54:57 and collected a pass from Kristi Lefebvre after which she rifled into the lower left hand corner of the goal.
UConn’s offense was especially potent today, manufacturing 36 shots including 14 shots on goal. Blue Devil keeper Sabrina Mariani was kept busy on the afternoon, making 10 saves in 90 minutes.
Connecticut will return to action Sunday, September 7 when they take on Yale in New Britain, Conn. Game time is set for 1:00 pm.
2003 UConn/adidas Classic All-Tournament Team
Jessica Gjertsen UConn
Erin Rice UConn
Megan Schnur UConn
Amy Warner Notre Dame
Mary Boland Notre Dame
Erika Bohn Notre Dame
Gudrun Gunnarsdottir Notre Dame
Kelly Shimmin Central Connecticut
Melanie Schneider Wake Forest
A.B. Robins Wake Forest
Hilde Bakke Hartford
