MORAGA, Calif. — Saint Mary's wrapped up their two-match week with a dominant 3-0 win over 2024 Big West Champs Hawaii, pushing their win streak to four games. The Gaels are the first team to four wins in the WCC and they did it in dramatic fashion with four straight shutout victories.
Freshman
Ashlyn Vaughn, who has quickly established herself as a key player for the Gaels, opened the scoring just six minutes into the game. Veteran
Jessie Hawes doubled the lead just before the end of the first half, and
Savannah Schwarze put the game out of reach when she found the back of the net in the 60th minute for her team leading third goal of the season.
Goalkeeper
Kate Plachy earned her conference leading fourth shutout of the season and tenth of her SMC career, pushing her into a tie for seventh place all-time in program history.
FIRST HALF | SMC 2 - 0 UH
The Gaels found the back of the net quickly when
Emmie Ennis and
Maddie Lucas combined down the right side to set up
Ashlyn Vaughn. The true freshman beat her defender and found the bottom corner from a tight angle for her second goal of the season.
With just five minutes left in the half and Hawaii finding some attacking moments throughout the half,
Jessie Hawes would double the Gaels lead with her first collegiate goal.
Savannah Schwarze found
Jessie Hawes off the corner kick from the far side and Hawes connected with the inside of her right foot for the one-time finish to give Saint Mary's a 2-0 lead just before the half.
The Gaels pressure was evident with a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks and a total of six shots in the half. Hawaii did tally five shots of their own over the first 45 minutes, forcing a pair of saves from Plachy.
FINAL | SMC 3 - 0 UH
Saint Mary's sealed the match in the 60th minute as redshirt freshman
Aleiyah Schexnayder and senior
Briana Salvetti set up Schwarze for her team leading third goal of the season. It was tremendous pattern work from the Gaels down the left side. Hawes found a checking Salvetti between the defensive lines who then sprung Schexnayder down the left side of the penalty box. Schexnayder found a square ball to Schwarze near the top of the box who took a touch and slotted the goal low and to the left, a complete team effort.
From there,
Kate Plachy shut the door with three more saves in the second half. Hawaii hung tough with a flurry of chances late in the second half but the Gaels ultimately outshot the Rainbow Wahine 15-12 to complete the three-goal performance.
Several key starters were able to get off their feet late but the Gaels backline was stellar once again, limiting quality chances from UH in their fourth straight shutout. Vaughn and Schwarze led the way with three shots each as three different players got their name on the scoresheet. Saint Mary's has now won four straight games for the first time since 2023 and recorded four consecutive shutouts for the first time since the 2015 season.
LOOKING AHEAD
Saint Mary's improved to 4-1-1 after their 3-0 victory over Hawaii. They will rest up for a big week on the east coast as they will take on Navy and 16th ranked Georgetown next week. Game information, media and ticket links can be found at smcgaels.com.
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