BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - The Bloomsburg University women's soccer team scored three first-half goals and went on to blank new Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) rival Shepherd University, 4-0, on Saturday night at Steph Pettit Stadium. The Huskies extended their winning streak to three straight and improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the PSAC Eastern Division. The Rams dropped to 0-4-1 overall and 0-4-0 in the PSAC East.

Junior Lauren Hoelke (Blackwood, N.J./Highland Regional) put the Huskies on the board in the 17th minute when she drilled a shot from outside the box into the top left corner of the net past Shepherd goalkeeper Lulu Fricks. Junior Christina Podpora (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) picked up the assist on Hoelke's third marker of the season.

The Huskies pushed the advantage to 2-0 in the 38th minute when junior Alex Burrows (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) received a centering pass from freshman Abby Groff (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) and one-timed a shot past Fricks for her first goal of the season. Groff earned her first collegiate point with the helper. Then, with just seven seconds left in the first half, junior Natalie Holmes (Laurel, Md./Archbishop Spalding) took a free kick opportunity and placed a perfect shot just inside the far post to extend the Bloomsburg lead to 3-0. The goal was Holmes' first of the year.

Bloomsburg scored its final goal of the contest just 1:06 into the second half when junior Mackenzie Gebhardt (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) beat Shepherd backup netminder Meghan Byers for her second goal of the year. Junior Maggie McDonald (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) had the assist on the Huskies' fourth goal of the night.

The Huskies dominated play for much of the night as they held a 25-3 advantage in shots and a 9-0 margin in corner kicks. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Jenna Hawkins (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood) played the first 58:40 and did not need to make a save to earn her fifth win of the year. Freshman Riley Spingler (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) made her collegiate debut and had one stop as she kept the shutout intact by stoning Sara Hohn on a breakaway opportunity late in the match. Shepherd used three goalkeepers who combined to stop eight Bloomsburg shots on the night.