JOLIET, Ill. -- Mia Ocana recorded her first career hat trick and the University of St. Francis women's soccer team authored its fifth win of the season with a 5-1 victory over Judson University in Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action on Saturday night at Joliet Memorial Stadium.  The senior forward scored two goals before the break and also converted the team's final tally with 10 minutes remaining in the second half to achieve the rare feat.  With the win, St. Francis improves to 5-1-1 on the year and 2-0 in conference play.

First Half
St. Francis came out strong in the first half, quickly asserting itself on the scoreboard with a goal by Ocana after a long pass ahead from teammate Isabel Diez allowed the senior to fire her shot past Judson starting goalkeeper Eva Fernandez in just the seventh minute of play.  The following 16 minutes remained tightly contested with each team's keeper recording multiple saves before Kelly Flores connected on her second shot attempt of the night to put the Saints up 2-0 after two back-to-back shot attempts from Ocana deflected off a diving Fernandez to allow for the open net score.  USF continued to keep the pressure on the Eagle defense for the remainder of the half, resulting in the visitors not being able to hold off further damage as Ocana connected for her second goal of the match off a double assist from Citlali Perez and Charlene Mendoza, allowing the Saints to take a 3-0 score into the break.

Second Half
The second half showcased another strong performance from the St. Francis front line as the Saints continued to lay offensive pressure on the Eagles (1-5, 0-2 CCAC), registering 13 shots to Judson's four.  USF kept the scoring going in the 51st minute when Diez found herself in the scoring column after her shot from the far right side of the field found the back of the Eagles' net to turn the lead to 4-0.  Judson retaliated quickly, however, controlling the ball over the next 10 minutes and firing off the match's next three shot attempts, finding success on its last try at the 61:13 mark.  Things stayed relatively quiet thereafter until the 80th minute when Ocana connected for her third goal of the night after receiving a pass from Diez and making a sharp cut to beat her defender to collect the first hat trick of her career and ending things at 5-1.

In total, USF registered 25 shot attempts with 13 total on-target, while holding Judson to nine shots for the match.  Giselle Mata recorded her fifth win of the season and authored four saves for the Saints after logging all 90 minutes in the USF net.

Up Next
The Saints will prepare for Tuesday (Sept. 23) when they travel to Bourbonnais, Ill. to take on the Tigers of Olivet Nazarene University.  The CCAC matchup is slated to begin at 5 pm in the Snowbarger Athletic Complex.

You can keep up with everything happening around USF Athletics on X @USFSaints.