Box Score
GAFFNEY, S.C.-The Barton College women's soccer team was held without a goal for a second straight Conference Carolinas contest in a 3-0 road loss at Limestone College on Saturday afternoon.
Freshman forward Leah Kennington recorded a hat trick to lead the Saints to the victory during Limestone's homecoming weekend. Limestone improved to 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the league. The Lady Bulldogs dipped to 4-8 and 3-6.
Limestone took control of the tempo from the opening whistle, jumping out to a 2-0 advantage within the first 15 minutes of play on pair of headers by Kennington. With 10 minutes gone by in the first half, Kennington headed home her first career goal on a long feed over the top of the defense by freshman defender Paige Jellison to stake the Saints a 1-0 lead.
Kennington struck for her second score just three minutes later, finishing off a cross from the right wing by senior midfielder Ashley Spanitz with a header into the bottom left corner to give the Saints a two-goal margin at the break. The Saints narrowly missed adding to their lead a few minutes into the second half when an attempt by Spanitz bounced off the bottom of the crossbar.
Kennington completed the hat trick in the 67th minute after blasting the rock through the left side of the cage from point blank range to make it a 3-0 game. She was inches away from her fourth goal of the day a few moments later when her attempt recoiled off the far left post but Limestone would have all the offense it needed to complete the 3-0 win.
For the game, Limestone held a massive 29-7 edge in shots taken while outpacing the Bulldogs 9-1 in corner kicks.
Freshman Emily Futral led Barton with a pair of shots while sophomore keeper Carson Moore pulled in 12 saves.
Barton tested a pair of Saints goalies at times with five shots but the attempts off the boots of Futral, senior Morgan Brush, senior Sara Treadwell, junior Taylor Parrish, and freshman Jessica Bates were all stopped.
Junior starting netminder Tori Waddell earned the win in net with four saves over the first 73 minutes while freshman backup Mariette Martinez wrapped up the combined shutout with one save.
Barton hosts Pfeiffer University in a Conference Carolinas clash on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
NOTE: Special thanks to Limestone sports information for providing portions of the release.
