Nash explodes for five goals on the road

DECORAH, Iowa – Cassie Nash found the back of the net five times to lift the Simpson College women's soccer team to a 5-3 road win over Luther.

Nash scored a hat trick just in the first half and the two teams went into the break knotted at 3-3. She converted the game winner 75 seconds into the second period and capped off an explosive performance with an insurance tally in the 60th minute.

Only three other players have scored five or more goals in a single match for the Storm. Erin Goettl holds the current record with seven goals against Upper Iowa on Oct. 1, 2003. Alicia Vegas had two games with five and another with six in the late 90's, and Tracie Whitney scored five times in one game in 2000.

Nash joins seven other Division III players with a 5+ goal performance this season. She now leads the American Rivers Conference with nine goals scored in league play.

Lizzie Arnburg assisted the Storm (7-5-1, 4-2-0 A-R-C) to their first lead of the game in the 15th minute, but the Norse (6-6-3, 2-2-1 A-R-C) went back-to-back to go ahead 2-1. Both squads then traded successful penalty kicks before Nash leveled the match for a second time with a goal in the 42nd minute.

After being outshot 10-6 in the first half, Simpson fired 13 shots in the final 45 minutes while Luther managed just four. The Storm cashed in on their second attempt of the half thanks to an assist from Brissa Valadez, and the duo of Arnburg and Nash put the game away shortly after.

Up Next
Simpson faces Nebraska Wesleyan on the road on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.