FENTON, Mo. - Webster University senior forward Nicole Bascio (Wentzville, Mo./Timberland) gave herself a memorable birthday present here Thursday evening as she recorded a hat trick in helping lead the Gorloks to a 5-0 shutout victory over Spalding in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at World Wide Technology Soccer Park.

Bascio, who was celebrated her 22nd birthday on Thursday, posted the first hat trick of her collegiate career and the second this season for the Gorloks as junior forward Melissa Kasper (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) posted a hat trick in Webster's 9-0 win over MacMurray on Sept. 29. The hat trick was the 54th in the history of the Gorloks women's soccer program.

With the win, Webster improves to 13-2-1 overall and remains tied for first place in the SLIAC standings with Fontbonne as both teams are 6-0-0 in league play. Spalding falls to 6-6-1 overall and 3-3-0 in the SLIAC.

In addition to her three goals, Bascio added an assist and finished with seven points in the match. The seven points established a new career high for Bascio, who is now tied for the team lead in goals this season with Kasper as both players have tallied 12 goals. 

Bascio got the scoring started late in the 11th minute of the contest as she took a pass from junior midfielder Olivia Osterhage (Eureka, Mo./Eureka) on a cross and scored from 12 yards out to give WU a 1-0 lead. 

That would be the only scoring in the half as Webster outshot Spalding, 18-1 and had four shots on goal in the opening 45 minutes. 

Webster's offense, though, woke up in the second half as they scored four goals in a span of 11-plus minutes to push out to an insurmountable 5-0 advantage and then cruised to its sixth consecutive victory. 

Kasper would score her 12th goal of the season in the 52nd minute as she took a pass from junior midfielder Payton Williams  (St. Louis, Mo./Fort Zumwalt East) and scored from 16 yards from inside the box. 

About 121 seconds later, Bascio tallied her second goal as she took a cross from both Kasper and Osterhage and score on a header in front fo the net to make the score 3-0. 

Bascio completed the hat trick in the 59th minute as he took a pass from Williams and connected from eight yards out to give the Gorloks a 4-0 lead. The assist by Williams was her second of the match, which was a new career high. 

Senior midfielder Carolyn Ries (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) got into the scoring act in the 63rd minute as she took a pass from Bascio from the left side and connected on a shot from nine yards out for her sixth goal of the season and 13th of her collegiate career. 

In the 78th minute, sophomore forward Joi Wilson (Tracy, Calif./Tracy) had a chance to add to WU's goal total, but her shot hit the crossbar. 

After only taking one shot and no shots on goal in the first half, the Golden Eagles took three shots, all of which, were on goal in the second half. 

For the match, Webster finished with shots and had 11 shots on the goal. Junior midfielder Savannah Page (Sandy, Utah/Sandy) led the way with six shots, while Ries had four shots. Bascio, Wilson and senior defender Jillian Zimpfer (St. Charles, Mo./St. Charles) each had three shots and combined for seven of WU's 11 shots on goal.

Senior goalkeeper Alisa Coralic (St. Louis, Mo./Mehlville) earned the win in net as she played 68-plus minutes and recorded just one save to move to 12-2-1 on the season. Coralic is now 31-7-2 in her career and the 31 goalie wins are third most on the school's all-time chart. 

Junior Abbey Mercer (Granite City, Ill./Granite City) played the final 21 minutes and had two saves and helped combine for WU's eighth shutout of the season. 

Kayla Strehle (2-4-1) played all 90 minute in goal for Spalding as she allowed five goals and made six saves.

The Gorloks will look to win in seventh consecutive match as they travel to Eureka, Ill., for a 1 p.m. SLIAC match on Saturday, Oct. 20 at Eureka College.