North Vancouver’s Emma Pringle scored a hat trick to shoot the Simon Fraser University Clan women’s soccer team into the playoffs.
The junior forward picked up all three goals for SFU in a 3-0 win over Saint Martin’s University Tuesday at Terry Fox Field in a win that clinched the Clan a berth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship tournament. Her first two markers were nearly identical first half plays with Pringle parked on the six-yard box to tap in deft passes from teammates Katelyn Erhardsen on goal No. 1 and Jenna-lee Baxter on goal No. 2.
In the second half Pringle added some insurance, collecting a pass inside the penalty area, spinning on her defender and firing a shot over the goalie.
SFU ended regular season play with a 3-2 overtime loss against Seattle Pacific on Thursday. Pringle finished as the league’s leading scorer for the second year in a row, notching 11 goals in 14 games.
The GNAC championships, featuring the league's top-4 teams, will be held Nov. 1 and 3 in Portland, Ore, hosted by Concordia University.