Box Score

KUTZTOWN - Junior Dena Shleifer had her first career hat trick as East Stroudsburg University dominated Kutztown, ranked No. 8 in the Northeast Region, en route to a 6-1 victory in PSAC East women's soccer on Wednesday afternoon.

The Warriors have won three straight matches and are 6-1-1 in their last eight games to improve to 8-4-1 on the season. ESU is now 5-2-1 in the PSAC East and broke a three-way tie for second place in the conference, which also included Kutztown.

Shleifer scored 6:19 into the match off an assist from junior Jennifer Buckley, and Buckley added an unassisted goal in the 15th minute to give ESU a 2-0 lead. The score remained 2-0 through halftime until Shleifer netted her second goal of the game 4:33 into the second half, with the assist coming from freshman Kailyn Buckley.

Kutztown responded 1:20 later with a goal by Kim Kelty to cut its deficit to 3-1, but ESU scored three more goals within a 13-minute span to blow the game open.

Kailyn Buckley notched her second assist of the game on the fifth goal of the season by junior Tara Takac in the 69th minute. Junior Lynda Hicks scored her team-leading ninth goal of the season 10 minutes later on an assist from junior Janel Cleffi.

Shleifer completed the hat trick in the 81st minute on an assist from Jennifer Buckley, who finished the game with a goal and two assists.

Junior Janine Turcio went the distance in goal for ESU and made three saves. The Warriors outshot Kutztown 27-6 in the contest, with the Golden Bears splitting time between starter Stephanie Bonsky and reserve Brittany Melnyk.

ESU will host Shippensburg on "Super Soccer Saturday" at 3 p.m. A free soccer clinic will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. with players from both the men's and women's soccer teams helping youth soccer players improve their skills.