BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's soccer team hadn't played in 11 days after dropping a 2-1 double-overtime decision to West Chester University in the quarterfinal round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) tournament. Now, the Huskies will get another crack at the Golden Rams as they exploded for four first-half goals en route to a 4-0 victory over Millersville University in the second round of the NCAA Division II women's soccer tournament on Saturday afternoon at Steph Pettit Stadium. Bloomsburg, the top seed in the Atlantic Region, advances to the regional final as it improved to 17-2-1 overall while the Marauders, the fourth seed in the region, saw their season come to an end with a 15-5-1 record.

Bloomsburg moves on the to regional final for the second consecutive season as it will square off against the Golden Rams for the fourth time this season. The contest will take place at the highest-remaining seed in the East Division on either December 5 or 6 with the winner of the Atlantic Region final moving on to play the winner of the East Region on December 7 or 8 for a chance to go to the Final Four in Pittsburgh the following weekend.



The Huskies scored all four of their goals in the opening 27 minutes of the match to take the air out of the Marauders' sails.

Junior Maggie McDonald (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) started the barrage as she out-raced a Millersville defender to a loose ball, that was centered by sophomore Nicole Varano (Mt. Carmel, Pa./Mt. Carmel), and chipped a shot over freshman goalkeeper Reagan Kolinski just 4:49 into the match to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. It was McDonald's fifth goal of the season while Varano, who had only one assist on the year entering the contest, picked up her first of three helpers on the day.

Then, in the 15th minute, junior Lauren Hoelke (Blackwood, N.J./Highland Regional) danced through three Millersville defenders and beat Kolinski with her left foot to the top left corner of the goal to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage. The highlight reel goal was Hoelke's 11th marker of the season.
 

Hey ... check out this HOELKE of a GOAL!!!

#6 Bloomsburg advances to the Atlantic Regional final of #NCAAD2 women's soccer tournament with a 4-0 win Saturday over Millersville at Steph Pettit Stadium!@sctop10 #SCTop10 @espn @NCAADII #Unleashed @BUHuskies_wsoc pic.twitter.com/1wPANUqe5W

— BU Huskies (@GoBUHuskies) November 23, 2019

Just over a minute later, senior Megan Callan (Eldersburg, Md./Century) received a beautiful outlet pass from Varano, got behind the Millersville defense, and drilled a shot past Kolinski for a 3-0 lead. The goal was Callan's fifth of the year.

Hoelke then finished off the socring, with an assist from Varano, in the 26th minute to push the Bloomsburg advantage to 4-0. It was Hoelke's second goal of the match and 12th marker of the year. It marks the most goals by a Bloomsburg player since Katie Walczuk scored 13 during the 2010 season and her 34 points is tied for ninth-most in a single season in program history and is the most since Alea Balthaser (45) and Renee Williams (37) during the 2001 campaign.

Redshirt junior goalkeeper Jenna Hawkins (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood) and the Bloomsburg defense did the rest as the Huskies kept the Marauders off the scoreboard for the team's 14th shutout of the year - 12th solo shutout by Hawkins. Hawkins improved to 17-2-1 on the year and needed to make only one save on the afternoon. Kolinski, meanwhile, fell to 15-5-1 as she was credited with three stops.

Bloomsburg held a 15-11 shot advantage which included an 8-2 margin in the opening half. The Marauders had six corner kick opportunities to Bloomsburg's three.

Stay tuned to buhuskies.com in the coming days to see when and where the Huskies will play against the Golden Rams. Bloomsburg and West Chester have met three times this season with the teams splitting the series, 1-1-1.