Bonilla's Hat Trick Pushes Soccer Past Royals

Knoxville, Tennessee- Junior forward Cindy Bonilla's hat trick helped the Brenau soccer team defeat Johnson (Tenn.) University 4-2 in Appalachian Athletic Conference play on Monday.

Bonilla started her scoring binge at the 9:01 mark as she beat Royals' keeper Jailie Bullock for an early 1-0 lead.

Just over eleven minutes later, sophomore Kylie McGlone found Bonilla for her second goal to increase the Golden Tigers lead to 2-0. Bonilla continued to add to the scoring in the 31st minute as she again beat Bullock for an unassisted goal to give Brenau a commanding 3-0 lead.

In the second half, the Royals (3-12-1 overall, 1-11-1 AAC) started a comeback as Hannah Wiggs scored in the 54th minute, and then Taylor Neltner added a second goal in the 60th minute to cut the Brenau lead to 3-2.

However, junior Camila Penagos stifled the Royals' comeback with a goal of her own to increase her team's lead to 4-2. The goal was the fifth of the season for Penagos, who tied with Bonilla for the team lead.

The Golden Tigers' defense held the Royals in check for the final 26 minutes to capture the win.

Brenau keeper Daphne Ramirez saved five shots in the win, while Bullock saved eight shots in the loss. The Golden Tigers controlled the pace throughout the match as the squad outshot the Royals 19-10.

Brenau (5-6-1 overall, 5-6-1 AAC) next plays host to #19 Truett McConnell (Ga.) University (14-2 overall, 11-1 AAC) on Wednesday at 6:00 pm.

Live streaming for the match can be found here, while live stats can be found here.