Box score
HAMDEN, CT—It was a matter of way too much of Quinnipiac freshman Furtuna Velaj as far as NJIT was concerned Sunday afternoon, as the freshman scored the first five goals in her team's 6-0 women's soccer win over the visiting Highlanders.
She scored the Bobcats' first five goals, including three in the first half and two in the second half in raising her season goals total to eight in five games. Another freshman, Chelsea Smith, rounded out the scoring with Quinnipiac's sixth goal.
Quinnipiac used two goalkeepers in posting its third shutout win of the season. Starter Jillian Kelley had one save in her 61 minutes of play in the game, backed up by Kendra Margulies, who played 29 minutes but did not face a shot.
NJIT goalkeeper Sadie Mele faced 29 total shots in her 90 minutes of action, including 15 on goal. She made nine saves.
The only shot on goal came from NJIT freshman Jennifer Kalczewski, a freshman whose first season has been hampered by injury and has played in just half of the team's 10 games. She made her third start on Sunday.
Velaj, who set a Quinnipiac Division I record with her 10 points, opened her record-setting day with a goal in seventh minute of play, receiving a pass from Justine Lombardi and dribbled it in front of the net. She then drilled a shot to the left side of the goal past Mele.
Her second goal came on a penalty kick that was awarded when she was taken down in the box in the 25th minute.
Velaj executed the natural hat trick within the first 30 minutes, notching her third goal at 29:53, getting the ball just beyond the outstretched fingers of Mele from outside the box.
The halftime score of 3-0 didn't hold up far into the second half, as Velaj collected her fourth goal after a pass from Susan Donovan 6:30 into the final half.
Velaj completed her big day in the 60th minute, taking a pass from Olivia Kravitz and kicking the ball in front of the net, where it bounced off Mele's body and into the goal.
The home team picked up its final goal in the 74th minute, as Smith scored with an assist from Lindsay Oliveri.
NJIT, now halfway through a stretch of six straight road games, will visit Easton, PA, on Friday night for a 7 pm game at Lafayette.
(goal descriptions courtesy of Quinnipiac Sports Information)
