FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. --- Dejah Holman scored three goals to lead Nova Southeastern University to a 5-0 victory over Tusculum University in women's soccer action Sunday afternoon.
Holman scored in the 12th, 28th and 57th minutes for the Sharks (4-0-0), who have outscored their opponents 31-0 in their first four matches of the season. Emma Heikkila had a goal and two assists and Jessica Bonenclark added a goal and an assist for NSU in the win.
The Sharks outshot the Pioneers 29-6 in avenging a 3-2 loss to Tusculum in last year's season opener in Greeneville. Tusculum (2-2-0) saw its two-game winning streak come to an end as the Pioneers split their two matches in Florida over the weekend.
Heikkila nearly gave the Sharks an early lead as she hit the post in the 6th minute, but it was Holman who delivered to the far post at 11:01 off a cross from Heikkila for the 1-0 NSU lead.
Tusculum's first scoring chance came in the 16th minute as a blast from 25 yards straight away by Kaitlyn Watson was batted over the crossbar by Sharks keeper Shannon Hearty. In the 19th minute, it was Tusculum keeper Cecilie Ting Mortensen's turn to elevate as she tipped a blast from distance by Heikkila up and off the crossbar.
At 27:40, the Sharks went up 2-0 as a corner kick from Bonenclark went to the far side to Heikkila, who steered the ball back to Holman at the near post for her second of the match.
Mortensen came up with a strong save on the Sharks' Morgan Masters in the 30th minute on the final shot on goal of the half. Mortensen finished the half with five saves as the Pioneers were outshot by the Sharks by a 15-2 margin.
Holman would complete the natural hat trick at 56:58 as she collected a pass in the box and had her first shot blocked, but scored on the rebound to extend the Nova Southeastern lead to 3-0.
Mortensen collected her sixth save in the 63rd minute on a shot from close range by Sydni Bostick, but at 66:47 Heikkila extended the NSU lead to 4-0 as she shot from 18 yards while sliding to the turf following a pass by Hannah Christophe. Just 1:!4 later, Bonenclark closed out the scoring at 68:01 as she played a through ball past Mortensen near the top of the box after a long pass from Nicole Staley.
Danielle Breen entered to play goal for the Pioneers and made three saves, stopping Brianna Page in the 77th minute and Alexys Nowak from close range in the 82nd minute following a turnover. Breen also came off her line to smother a breakaway shot by Masters with just over a minute remaining. Breen was also helped out her defense as Maddie Vossen cleared a would-be goal off the line following a corner kick in the 86th minute.
Hearty and Natalie Robayna each had one save in goal for the Sharks, while Rachel Conomea played the final five minutes as the third-string keeper. Mortensen had six saves in 70 minutes for the Pioneers, while Breen played the final 20 minutes and finished with three stops. Nova Southeastern finished the match with an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks, and was called for 12 fouls to just three by the Pioneers.
Tusculum will continue its stretch of nine consecutive road matches to begin the season when the Pioneers visit Lees-McRae for a non-conference match on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.