Senior captain Briley Phelps left her mark in her last regular season game on her home field Tuesday.
Phelps registered a hat trick to lead the Hart Indians girls’ soccer team to a 4-0 victory over the Canyon Cowboys.
The senior scored her first goal late in the first half. Hart junior Ayla Noble threw in a bomb of a throw-in, which deflected right to Phelps. The captain opened up the scoring and volleyed the ball into the back of the net.
Indians senior Alexis Nguyen has been breaking down defenses all season. Nguyen did just that in that second half on the wing and delivered the cross to Phelps for the 2-0 goal. The two repeated the same play just minutes later to notch Phelps’ senior night hat trick.
“It was a ton of emotions because it was our senior night,” Phelps said via text message. “We played hard and got the result we were looking for. I’m super thankful for the large group of seniors we have and the special role every girl has played.”
Nguyen registered two assists on the day but put the game away in the 60th minute. Junior midfielder Ariana Salvador found Nguyen to ice the game, 4-0.
Hart (10-3-4, 9-0-2) is now on the verge of its second consecutive, and ninth Foothill League title in 10 years.
“It was a great day for us to take one step closer to one of our three goals we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season,” Hart coach Brett Croft said via email. “Being our Senior Day, it was a great opportunity for all our players to contribute and play a role in our win as we were able to celebrate our incredible senior class and all they have done to cement their name in the tradition that is Hart soccer.”
The Indians can officially take the Foothill League title with a win over Valencia or with a Saugus loss on Thursday.
Canyon returns home to host Saugus on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. just before Hart heads to Valencia at 6:30 p.m.
