WILMINGTON, N.C. – The UNCW women's soccer team earned three points and moved into first place in the CAA South Division with a dominant 5-1 win over Elon Saturday night at UNCW Soccer Stadium, with five Seahawks scoring.
"I couldn't be happier with the performance today", said head coach Chris Neal. "Elon is a very dangerous team and very well coached. We will enjoy this victory tonight but tomorrow morning our focus will be on a big trip up north in CAA play."
The Seahawks (7-0-6, 2-0-2 CAA) struck first in the 12th minute when Caigan Leonard found the back of the net off a corner kick from Ava Vaughan and an assist from Hailey Longwell. The goal marked Leonard's fifth of the season.
Longwell then converted a penalty kick to extend UNCW's lead to 2-0 before Elon's (7-2-3, 2-1-1 CAA) Gabby Tirado scored in the 40th minute to cut the deficit to one heading into halftime.
UNCW responded with three second-half goals, starting with Allie Planeaux's unassisted goal in the 58th minute. Rachel Fry added another goal in the 64th minute before Ava Chuderewicz found the back of the net two minutes later to give the Seahawks a 5-1 advantage.
Both teams finished with 15 shots, while UNCW put nine shots on goal and forced Elon's goalkeeper to make six saves. Lili White and Zoë Anderson combined for three saves in goal for the Seahawks.
The Seahawks begin a four-match road stretch Thursday, Oct. 8, at Towson. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m., and the match will air on FloCollege.
