COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Capital University women's soccer team comfortably rolled past Heidelberg University on Wednesday evening by a final score of 5-0. The Comets came flying out of the gates with four first half goals, thanks largely to the play of Sophia Leonetti who netted a hat-trick on just three shots on goal. All three goals came courtesy of finishes on corner kicks from Madeline Woodruff. 

The win moves Capital ahead to 11-2-2 on the season and 7-0-1 in the OAC this year. Heidelberg drops back to 6-8-2 overall and 2-6 in the conference. 

Things got off to a relatively slow start as Capital kept possession in the middle third of the field for the early proceedings. On one play in the ninth minute, Capital lost the ball going to goal. There, the Heidelberg defender went to clear the ball and Madeline Woodruff stepped in her path and ricocheted the ball over the Berg goalie and into the net, putting Capital ahead 1-0. 

From there, it was all Comets the rest of the way as they played with any pressure of a result lifted. 

As mentioned, center midfielder Sophia Leonetti stepped up in a big way and netted three goals before halftime, all of which were set up by Woodruff. 

The first was a well-executed corner kick routine in which Woodruff passed to Avery Hart; Hart layed it off to Woodruff; Woodruff passed to the overlapping Lexi Snider; and Snider crossed to the unmarked Leonetti to sweep the ball home, doubling Capital's lead. The goal came in the 18th minute.

The Comets were at it again in the 34th as this time, Woodruff played the corner directly in to the head of Leonetti who deposited her header into the empty net for her second of the game and to put Cap ahead 3-0. 

Leonetti wasn't done yet as she capped off her third goal of the game and a marvelous first half from the Comets with another headed goal off a Woodruff corner kick in the 45th minute. 
After halftime, Capital played a much subdued game of possession to preserve the result. 

With the result in hand, the Comets put the icing on the cake as leading scorer Avery Hart netted her 10th goal of the season and first in Bernlohr Stadium this year off an assist from Lexi Snider. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Sophia Leonetti's hat-trick is the second by a Comet in as many games as Avery Hart scored three at John Carroll in their most recent game. 

Madeline Woodruff's three assists marked the first time a Comet dished out three assists in a single game since Becca Cartmill accomplished the feat on October 30, 2013 in a 4-2 win over Muskingum. 

Avery Hart's 10th goal of the season gave her 30 career goals at Capital and marked the second time in her career in which she netted 10 goals in a single season. 

Lauren White and Liv Alford combined for a shutout for the second time this season. White made one save in the first half and Alford stopped three shots in the second half. The duo has now held eight shutouts on the season. 

THE OPPONENT
Meredith Bruce and Brigid Enright combined for nine saves for Heidelberg. Syd Hewer and Caitlyn Cross each had two shots on goal for the Berg. 

UP NEXT
The Comets will host Baldwin Wallace University on Saturday, October 29th at 7 p.m. for their final regular season game of the year.