HIGHLIGHTS (YouTube)

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Citadel women's soccer team kicked off the 2017 season Friday afternoon with a 5-3 win over Hampton University at Washington Light Infantry (WLI) Field in the season-opener for both programs.

With a heat index that reached into the triple digits, eight different players found the back of the net between the two teams with three Bulldog freshmen highlighting the scoring.

"I think the weather really played a part with it being 110 degrees on the heat index. I think that was the biggest challenge for us, but we knew that there would be a spell where everyone would start to struggle physically," head coach Ciaran Traquair said following the game. "We were trying to coach our players to conserve energy early on, but it was a bit difficult because there were several opportunities for us to go win the ball up the field and it's difficult to pull the players back when you see those opportunities.

"Overall I was happy with the way we played and it was certainly a difficult challenge to prepare for because Hampton hadn't played any preseason games and we didn't have much of a scouting report on them," Traquair continued. "When you don't have that information, especially when a team plays so high with their back line, you have to make those changes and developments as the game goes. But we came away with a win, scored five goals and had three freshmen on the score sheet and that certainly helps us moving forward."

The temperature and heat index weren't the only things that were high on the afternoon as The Citadel (1-0) took 25 shots with 18 being on goal compared to just seven total shots, five on goal, for Hampton (0-1). The 25 shots were 12 shy of the 37 the Bulldogs took against the Pirates late last season.

The Citadel wasted little time jumping on the board as graduate student Caroline Cashion collected a rebound near the top of the box and sent a rocket into the back of the net in just the third minute. The time to score was the sixth-fastest time for a Citadel soccer player by a mere second behind the fifth-quickest score.

Nearly 40 minutes later, Hannah Roth became the first freshman on this year's squad to record a goal with junior Rowan Brooks following suit less than a minute later.

In total, eight freshmen saw action on the pitch for The Citadel with six earning their first collegiate start. All eight contributed strong minutes and the eight took 16 of the Bulldogs' 25 shots.

With the Bulldogs up 3-0 after just one half of play, the Pirates were able to break up the shutout just four minutes into the second half when Leslie Jaiyesmi corralled in a deflection off the crossbar and put the ball into the net.

Close to 10 minutes passed before freshman Maria Contreras extended the advantage back out to three when she accepted a pass from senior Tinslee Dilday and finished off the right side inside the box to set the score at 4-1. However, an Ayana Garvin goal 10 minutes later pulled Hampton back to within two.

Freshman Logan Dix rounded out the scoring for The Citadel in the 80^th minute as she dribbled into the box and deftly struck the ball, placing it into the upper-right corner for the finish.

The final goal of the afternoon came in the 85^th minute when Michelle Zilberman scored off a penalty kick.

Roth led all players with five shots, all on goal, while Contreras, Dilday and Dix each took four shots.

Freshman Kaeley Johnston (1-0) got the start between the pipes for the Bulldogs and made two saves on the afternoon. Maya Andrews (0-1) started the game in goal for Hampton and gave up three goals despite making six saves, but Haley Nelson finished the contest for the Pirates.

The Citadel will have a short turnaround as the Bulldogs of South Carolina State will travel to Charleston on Sunday, Aug. 20, for a 1 p.m. tilt at WLI Field.

For more information on The Citadel soccer team, follow @CitadelWSoccer or visit CitadelSports.com.