Miami Gardens, Fla- Bethany Ashton's second hat-trick of the season propels the Bees past the Pride of Florida Memorial University 4-1 on Friday afternoon. Bethany Ashton and Shelby Dieckamp connected on three goals to give SCAD a commanding 3-0 lead. Dieckamp got behind the Pride defense in the 32^nd minute and played a pass that beat the keeper and dropped to Ashton for her to score. Ashton has now scored in six of the nine games played and in the last three in a row. The pair would connect again eight minutes later when SCAD would earn their third corner of the half. Dieckamp served in a ball from the left side that found Ashton alone at the backpost for another easy finish. SCAD would finish the first half with 11 shots to Florida Memorial's 3.
The second half began the same as the first with SCAD getting several shots on target. Several Bees forced saves by the Pride keeper but none found the back of the net until Ashton struck again in the 55^th minute. Logann Rogers played a diagonal ball from just inside the right half to Dieckamp at the top left of the penalty box. Dieckamp volleyed the ball back across the face of goal for Ashton to blast past the Florida Memorial keeper. The assist was Dieckamp's 10^th of the season, which ranks her in the Top 5 of the NAIA, and the goal was also Ashton's 10^th of the year.
Florida Memorial would break SCAD's shutout streak in the 61^st minute. The Pride were given a free-kick around 35 yards from goal and the ensuing kick found Josephine Frigerio at the back post. Frigerio beat her defender and chipped the ball over Thomas to end the scoreless streak at 444 minutes. Fortunately, Nikki Wittak would re-establish the lead three minutes later. Rachel Walker served in a free-kick from just inside the Florida Memorial's half that dropped behind the defense. Wittak and the Pride goalkeeper raced to the loose ball but Wittak was there first. The sophomore managed to chip the ball over the keeper and just under the crossbar for her fifth goal in five games.
With the win, SCAD moves their record to 8-1 and the current win streak at seven. It is the best start of the season since 2007 when the Bees made it to the NAIA National Championship and ended the season ranked #7. Currently, the Bees are ranked #22 in the NAIA.