By Lauren Whelan, Sports Editor

In their third straight win, the women’s soccer team took a decisive 5-0 victory over Iona on Sept. 11. Led by Kendall Ham ’18, who scored a hat-trick for the Bison, the win marked not only the third straight win, but also the third shutout in a row for the Bison. After such an important victory, the Orange and Blue were unable to continue their momentum facing a strong Ohio State team, and their winning streak came to a close when they fell   2-0 on Sept. 13.

Ham sparked the attack early against Iona, with her first goal coming in just the ninth minute of play. Her next goal came off of a header, which was converted after a rebounded shot from Madison Loos ’16. Ham completed her hat trick with a nicely placed penalty kick.

“I think I was lucky to be able to score a hat trick. I, as well as the rest of my team, had many opportunities in the game against Iona so it definitely felt rewarding to put three of them away,” Ham said.

The other two goals for the Bison came from Alexis Gannon ’17 and Carly Baggott ’19. Goalie Jessica Ratner ’17 completed the shutout, already making it her fourth this season.

Despite the momentum from their consecutive shut out wins, the Bison were unable to rally against a very strong Ohio State team, to which they ultimately fell 2-0. Ranked No. 15 in the nation, Ohio State tallied a goal in each half against defensive efforts from the Orange and Blue.

“The Ohio state game showed that were are able to play with top notch opponents such as Ohio State. I think playing them as our last game before Patriot League was definitely a positive as they are a very strong team and now we are able to carry all the positives we gained from that game as well as momentum into league play, starting with Boston on Sunday,” Ham said.

The Bison will be back in action for their first bit of Patriot League play on Sept. 20 when they will face Boston University.

“The first eight games of the season have really been preparing for league play. We have worked very hard during preseason and out of conference games these past six weeks and now this is where it really matters. I know my entire team is fired up to go to Boston this weekend, and play BU who has won the Patriot League the past two years,” Ham said.