Isabella DeMarco Nets Hat Trick in Catamount Victory at Winthrop

Sophomore Isabella DeMarco tallied the sixth hat trick in Western Carolina women’s soccer history and second of her career as the Catamounts scored early in both halves to defeat Winthrop 5-1 on Wednesday night at Eagle Field.

WCU improves to 2-0-1 on the young season while Winthrop drops to 0-1-1.

Western Carolina attempted two shots in the first eight minutes, the first of which came just 35 seconds into the match, before Naya Marcil netted her first goal of the season at the 9:04 mark for a 1-0 Catamount lead. Isaballa DeMarco followed with her second goal of the year for a 2-0 WCU advantage just 13:33 into the match.

Winthrop got on the board to cut the WCU advantage kn half with a goal by Monssi Avila-Gutierrez that was assisted by Marianella Gillum in the 36th minute. The goal was the first allowed by the Catamounts this regular season. WCU held a 9-1 advantage in shots in the opening half, five of which were credited to DeMarco.

Just under four minutes into the second half, Marcil netted her second goal of the match with an assist by Malia Roberts for a 3-1 WCU lead. Marcil and Rock Hill native Ava Robitaille teamed up to find DeMarco at the 53:08 mark to put the Catamounts ahead 4-1. Just over one minute later, DeMarco completed the hat trick with an assist by Sarah Engen at 54:28 for the final goal of the match.

The Catamounts attempted a season-high 21 shots while Winthrop attempted three. DeMarco’s seven shots are a new career-high and tied for the sixth-most in a match in program history.

Reigning The Southern Conference Defensive Player of the Week Leanne Trudel made one save in just over 66 minutes of action. Eden Reece made one save in 23 minutes in her season debut. Izzy Giarrizzi made two saves while Mia Vrataric stopped two shots.

WCU makes its longest road trip of the 2023 regular season on Sunday, venturing 450.9 miles to Martin, Tenn. for a 2 p.m. Eastern/1 p.m. Central match against UT Martin. The contest will be streamed on ESPN+ (paid subscription required) with free live stats available on catamountsports.com.