Buckeyes Beat Akron 4-1 Behind Sears’ Hat Trick

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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State junior forward Emma Sears recorded her second-career hat trick as the Buckeyes rolled to a 4-1 victory Sunday evening over Akron in the 2021 home opener. The win was the 300^th in Ohio State women’s soccer history, which began in 1993.

Touted freshman Kailyn Dudukovich scored the first of what will hopefully be a bunch of goals late in the first half. The Buckeyes led 3-1 at the break and added a final tally in the 78^th minute.

How it Happened

After a season-opening loss at BYU on Thursday evening, the Buckeyes wanted to quickly turn the page and that happened just :28 seconds in, as Emma Sears took the ball from just on the other side of midfield, dribbled past the Akron defense and tucked in her first goal of the season. She scored again 21 minutes later on a run that included passes from Kitty Jones-Black and Peyton McNamara.

Akron got on the board in the 25^th minute as Morgan Pentz lasered a shot from the right wing to cut the lead to 2-1. Dudukovich found herself open in the middle of the box and finished a pass from Kayla Fischer to reestablish a two-goal lead with 15 minutes to play in the first half.

Sears’ final goal came in the 78^th minute as she scored in similar fashion to Dudukovich, finishing a cross from Fischer off the wing.

Highlights

That didn't take long!! Emma Sears scores just 30 seconds into the game. 1-0 Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/h6PLu8sDHD

— Ohio State WSOC (@OhioStateWSOC) August 22, 2021

Emma Sears scores again. The play was started in the back by Kitty Jones-Black and continued on by Peyton McNamara. pic.twitter.com/4TRc021h1L

— Ohio State WSOC (@OhioStateWSOC) August 22, 2021

The freshman gets her first! Kailyn Dudukovich scores off a nice pass from Fischer.

3-1 Buckeyes#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/FDK66Q8I78

— Ohio State WSOC (@OhioStateWSOC) August 22, 2021

🎩🎩🎩 Hat trick for Emma Sears!!!

Buckeyes lead 4-1#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/iGwSuRoCmj

— Ohio State WSOC (@OhioStateWSOC) August 22, 2021

What They Said

Notes

Ohio State outshot Akron 20-4 in the first half and finished the game outshooting the Zips 30-5.
This was Emma Sears’ second hat trick of her career as she also scored three times in the Buckeyes’ win over Wisconsin on Feb. 22, 2021.
Kayla Fischer tied a career-high with those two assists. She also took six shots in the game.
Of Akron’s five shots, just the one was on goal, the Pence laser in the 25^th
The last time Ohio State attempted 30 shots in a game was August 30, 2018 in an 8-0 win over Morehead State.
17 Ohio State players saw action in the contest

Up Next

This match was the first of five consecutive home matches. The Buckeyes will host Bowling Green on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The match will be stream live on B1G+.

#GoBuckeyes