by Casey Burinskas

PITTSBURGH – After a nearly two-hour lightning delay on Wednesday night, the Penn State Altoona women's soccer team earned its third Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference victory of the season by shutting out Carlow University 5-0 at Highmark Stadium.

Lions senior Mallorie Smith (Bellefonte, PA/Bellefonte) became the Penn State Altoona women's soccer program's all-time points leader, after finishing the game with two goals and two assists. Her game total of six points pushed her past former Lion standout Emily Reimold's (2008-09) career total of 92 points, with Smith now ranking first in program history with 96 career points.

Smith's two goals also put her in a tie with Reimold for the most goals in a career, with both players having 41 goals in their respective careers.

Penn State Altoona (3-8-2, 3-2-1 AMCC) finished the game with season-highs in shot attempts (27), shots on goal (18), and goals, putting three goals on the board in the first half and scoring twice more in the second half. The Lions outshot Carlow (3-10-1, 2-4 AMCC) 27-9 in attempts and 18-4 in shots on goal.

Smith tallied two goals and two assists while posting 12 shot attempts, which led all players in the game and tied for the second-most in a game in Lions history, while putting seven shots on goal. Emilee Roman (Davidsville, PA/Conemaugh Township) scored her first two goals of the season for her first career multi-goal game, and she attempted five shots while putting four on goal.

Rachel Rutkowski (Canonsburg, PA/Canon-McMillan) had her first goal of the season, Taylor Frederick (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) tallied two assists, and Sophia Nelson (Bellwood, PA/Bellwood-Antis) and Kylei Martin (Mifflinburg, PA/Mifflinburg) had one assist each, with Martin's representing her first collegiate point.

Adeline Baustert (Apollo, PA/Apollo-Ridge) made her 13th start of the season at goalkeeper for Penn State Altoona and recorded four saves to notch her third win and fourth shutout of the year.

In the first half, Altoona came out strong, with Smith having the game's first shot on goal within the first six minutes. Following several more shots, Rutkowski made her way to the goal and put one in the back of the net at 17:02, planting Altoona with a 1-0 lead early in the game.

The Lions were quick to strike again, as Roman scored at 18:41 to make it 2-0 before Smith made it 3-0 at 23:02, following a pass upfield by Frederick. Altoona got three more shots on goal, made up of Frederick, Smith, and Nicole Schwartz (Clifton, NJ/Passaic County Technical Institute), and the half ended with the Lions leading 3-0.

Coming into the second half with a strong lead, Altoona was not finished yet. Two shots on goal were quickly made by Nelson and Roman, ultimately saved by the Carlow goalie. But Roman returned to the net shortly after, scoring her second goal of the evening at 49:33 to give Altoona a 4-0 advantage.

Not long after that, Smith placed another ball into the net for her second goal of the game, furthering Altoona's lead to 5-0 at 53:57.

The rest of the half remained quiet, despite several more Lion shots, and the game ended with Altoona wrapping up a strong conference win on the road at Carlow.

Next up, the Penn State Altoona women's soccer team will face off against AMCC opponent Pitt-Bradford at 3:15 p.m. this Saturday, October 26, on the road.