BALTIMORE, Md., August 25, 2018 – The Monroe College women's soccer team proved its worthiness of the No. 16 ranking in the NJCAA Preseason Poll, as the Mustangs opened their season with a decisive 10-1 victory over CCBC-Essex on Saturday in the first contest of the CCBC-Essex Knights Soccer Kickoff Classic.
 
The Mustangs were led by a hat trick from Juliana Pires, who opened her season with a trio of goals, all hitting the back of the net in the first half. Maria Santin made a nice impression in her first game as a Mustang, netting a pair of scores. Kiana Leger dished out a team-high two assists off the bench.
 
Santin scored the first goal of the day in the 10th minute, kicking off what would be a ten-goal run for the Mustangs. Pires followed two minutes later, and Santin netted her second in the 22nd minute of the game. Pires added her second score seven minutes later off a feed from Leger.
 
Angie Ponce got on the board at the 34:06 mark to make it a 5-0 game, receiving another assist from Leger. Mayara Queiroz Reis picked up her first goal as a Mustang in the 37th minute, and then Pires completed her hat trick with just over six minutes left in the half. Laia Munoz Danon scored her first career goal at the 41:58 mark, leaving Monroe up, 8-0, heading into the break.
 
Alba Gonzalez kept things going early on in the second half, scoring in the 52nd minute to push the Mustang lead to nine. Maria Quiroz capped off Monroe's scoring when the sophomore netted the 10th goal of the day off an assist from Yolanda Albalat in the 78th minute. At the 79:13 mark, a yellow card gave the Knights a penalty-kick opportunity, with which Mikayla Boyle capitalized for the home team's only score of the day to finish things off with a 10-1 final score.
 
Marta Alemany stopped four shots and allowed just the one penalty-kick goal to start her season 1-0 between the pipes for the Mustangs. CCBC-Essex keeper Peyton Apruzzese falls to 0-2 after yielding 10 scores.
 
The Mustangs outshot their hosts, 34-5, while putting 25 of those shots on net. They also earned seven corner kicks, while the Knights had just one.
 
The Mustangs face a steep challenge on Sunday, taking on No. 8-ranked Harford Community College to wrap up the weekend in Baltimore. Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. at CCBC-Essex's turf field.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, will have six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level beginning in the fall of 2017.
 
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).