OWENSBORO, Ky. — They say that lightning never strikes the same place twice.
The Goshen College women's soccer team would have to disagree after lightning stuck Kamuf Park eight times — six in the form of goals and two in the form of actual electrostatic discharge — on Wednesday in a 6-0 win over Brescia University. The game was halted with 14 minutes remaining due to inclement weather.
Paige Renshaw scored twice and added an assist for the Maple Leafs (1-0), who outshot the Bearcats 22-2. Brynja Rut Hjartardottir contributed a goal and an assist while Seja Lang and Madalyne Swallow each scored in their first collegiate match.
The six-goal outburst was Goshen's highest total against an NAIA opponent since an 9-0 win over William Penn University in 2012 and the first GC win by an exact 6-0 scoreline since Sept. 28, 2002 against Bluffton University.
Lang and Renshaw combined to open the scoring in the 13th minute before Hjartadottir doubled the margin less than 11 minutes later. Renshaw added two goals 71 seconds apart, assisted by Luisa Souza and Hjartardottir respectively, to make the score 4-0 at halftime.
Beatriz Meneghin and Swallow scored in the second half, but the significant figure came nine minutes after Swallow's tally when the referee's watch reached 70 minutes and the game had progressed long enough to count as official. Thanks in part to an earlier lightning delay, the match was called at 7 p.m. Central time, three hours after kickoff.
Makiah McCain and Victoria Naylor combined on the shutout for the Maple Leafs as McCain made both saves and Naylor played the final five minutes. Brooke Stiles made 8 saves and Ashby Greenwell 2 for BU.
Renshaw led all players with 7 shots and Lang had 3, each eclipsing the Bearcats' total. Mercedes Santos-Tell took both Bearcat attempts, putting them on frame in the 64th and 70th minutes.
Each team took a corner kick in the match.
Goshen is idle this weekend and returns to action on Friday, Aug. 27, when it travels to Pittsburgh to square off with Point Park University at Highmark Stadium, home of the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in the second-tier USL Championship. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
