NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Three Virginia Wesleyan College women's soccer players shared a similar experience on Saturday.

All three scored their first goals of the season to help carry the Marlins to a 3-0 non-conference victory over New Jersey's Kean University in the Captains Classic hosted by Christopher Newport University.

Sophomore Kaitlyn Clunan (Virginia Beach/Bayside) and rookies Annie Hartman (Leesburg/Tuscarora) and Brittany Wentzel (Etters, Pa./Lewisberry Red Lion) put the ball into the net for their first goals of 2013.  It was the first intercollegiate goals for the two rookies.

Clunan put Virginia Wesleyan (2-0-1) on the scoreboard in the fourth minute of the game when she moved past a defender and ripped a goal-scoring shot from about 25 yards out. The Marlins opened up a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute when Hartman scored from nearly the same distance.  She took a pass from Kristen Mack (Branchburg, N.J./Somerville) and connected on a hard shot from the right.

Virginia Wesleyan capped its scoring at the 87:00 mark on Wentzel's goal.  Junior Celia Valdez (Alta Loma, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga Los Osos) set it up with a pass from right corner and Wentzel finished it off with a shot from inside the box.

Virginia Wesleyan finished the game with an 18-8 advantage in shots and a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.

Rookie goalkeeper Megan Gerhart (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) recorded 90 minutes in front of the net for Virginia Wesleyan and recorded one save. KC Nunez (Fairlawn, N.J./Immaculate Heart Academy) recorded five saves for Kean.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to the Captains Classic for competition on Sunday, Sept. 8 at 1 p.m. The Marlins will take on Ohio's Baldwin Wallace University.  The Yellow Jackets were 2-0 entering Saturday's game with host Christopher Newport University.

--AMDG--