BELOIT, Wis. — The Beloit College's women's soccer team put on a dominant offensive display this afternoon, cruising to a 7-1 win over the Rockford University Regents at Strong Soccer Field. The Buccaneers improved to 1-3-0 on the season, while Rockford fell to 0-2-0.
The story of the match was Maggie Wood (Bangkok, Thailand), who put together a hat trick performance that anchored Beloit's attack from start to finish. Wood opened the scoring just eight minutes into the match, finishing off an assist from Alejandra Martinez-Bates (Chicago, IL) for her first goal of the season. She struck again in the 24th minute with an unassisted finish, then capped her big day in the 66th minute with a third goal, this one assisted by Akira Tait (Brisbane, Australia). Wood also chipped in an assist on Marina Di Tullio's (Bensenville, IL) goal, giving her a hand in four of Beloit's seven scores. She finished the match with six shots, five on target, and a team-high 79 minutes played.
Wood wasn't alone in finding the back of the net for the Buccaneers. Grace Christos (Valporariso, IN) converted a penalty kick in the 33rd minute after a foul in the box, and she led all Beloit players with 9 corner-kick and shot involvement throughout the match. Grace Ramel (Chicago, IL) added a goal in the 36th minute, part of a six-shot afternoon that made her one of Beloit's most dangerous attacking threats all game. Di Tullio scored at the end of the first half off a Wood assist, providing what proved to be an insurance goal before halftime. Mikayla Campbell (Madison, WI) got forward to cap the scoring in the 73rd minute with an unassisted strike.
By halftime, Beloit had already built a commanding 5-0 lead, firing off an eye-popping 21 shots to Rockford's single attempt in the opening 45 minutes.
Beloit's goalkeeping duo of Campbell and Fianne Makela (Duluth, MN) rotated through the match, combining to allow just one goal on 8 total save opportunities. Makela earned the win, picking up the victory in her time between the posts. Campbell also came up with a crucial stop in the second half, denying a Yathziri Reyes penalty kick attempt in the 47th minute — though Rockford's Miley McCarty punched in the rebound moments later for the Regents' lone goal.
The final numbers tell the story of Beloit's control: the Buccaneers out-shot Rockford 35-7, held a 51% possession edge, and forced 9 corner kicks compared to Rockford's 3. Beloit's relentless pressure — particularly through Wood, Ramel, and Calypso Ayoung (Santa Cruz, Trinidad and Tobago), who fired off nine shots of her own — never let Rockford's defense settle.
The Buccaneers host Wisconsin Lutheran College on Sunday. Kickoff from the Strong Complex Soccer Field is set for 4:00 p.m.
