While the Northwestern State soccer program celebrated Senior Day, it was a junior who stole the show during its dominant 7-0 victory against Prairie View A&M on Thursday evening at the Demon Soccer Complex.
After scoring two goals in a game on four occasions, Emily Senatore found the back of the net three times for her first collegiate hat trick and first for NSU (6-2-3) in the Ian Brophy era.
It is the first hat trick for the Demons since Olivia Draguicevich in 2022 against Southeastern Louisiana, which also happened on Senior Day.
“It felt amazing to get the hat trick,” Senatore said. “I set a goal for myself this season to get a hat trick at some point. I didn’t tell anyone about it because it was my own personal goal, and it feels so good to finally get one.”
The three goals bring her career total to 19 for the native of Oxford, Conn., as she is closing in on the top 10 in program history, sitting just two shy of 2025 N-Club Hall of Fame inductee Heather Penico (21).
Paige Baumgartner, one of five seniors honored following the win, celebrated in style with her fourth goal of the season.
Riley Stern recorded her first goal of the season, while Ravina Sandhu and Gabriela Page each found the back of the net for the first time in their collegiate careers to round out the scoring.
“I am really happy with the performance and the way we played,” Brophy said. “We dominated possession and dominated the chances. I am really happy with the number of shots we had and how we controlled the pace of the game.
“To get a win for the seniors was the priority for today and I am glad that we got it done.”
NSU attempted 30 shots, the most shot attempts since recording 31 shot attempts in the victory at Nicholls in 2019.
The Demons jump back into Southland Conference play Sunday when they travel to Houston Christian before coming back home for two, against Southeastern Louisiana (Oct. 2) and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (Oct. 9).
