BALTIMORE, MD - Senior forward Meg Van de Loo (Eau Claire, WI) scored a hat-trick to lead Johns Hopkins University to a 3-1 victory over Western Connecticut State University in the first round of the NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championships at Homewood Field, on the Blue Jays campus.

Hopkins took a 1-0 lead at the 10:38 mark when Meg Van de Loo (Eau Clair, WI) scored off a pass from Bailey Monaco (South Salem, NY).  Loo has now scored at least one goal in 15 consecutive games dating back to a 5-1 victory over Washington College on September 17.  It was her team-leading 21st goal of the season.

The Blue Jays, now 16-2-2, felt comfortable with their slim lead in the first half as 25-year head coach Leo Weil made nine substitutions, with only keeper Clara Aranguren (Madrid, Spain) and back Adrienne Johnson (Middletown, DE) clocking in for the whole 45 minutes.  JHU's offense had an 11-3 advantage on shot in the first stanza with Van de Loo taking five attempts at goal.

In the second stanza, Van de Loo tallied her 22nd goal when she converted a penalty kick at the 69 minute mark.  She stepped up to take the 12-yard freebie after Monaco was hauled down in the box.

Van de Loo's hat-trick marker came just 1:45 later when she broke free in the box and deposited the ball in the back left corner of the net.  She heads to the second round, against the winner of tonight's nightcap, either Rowan University or Christopher Newport University, on Sunday at 5 pm with 23 goals.

Western, 15-6-2, got on the big board when junior forward Autumn Sorice (Bethel, CT) stole the Blue Jay clear in their own box and quickly squeezed inside the left post.  It was her 25th goal of the year.  Sorice came into the contest ranked fourth in the nation in goals scored.

Aranguren finished with two saves on the night while sophomore Serena Gunter (Jewett City, CT) turned away seven shots for the Colonials.

The Blue Jays finished with a 21-7 advantage in shots on the night.

The Colonials have now appeared in 12 NCAA tournaments including the last two seasons.  Western earned the automatic berth after capturing its second-straight Little East Conference title, a 2-0 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University a week ago.

Saturday marked the fourth straight NCAA appearance Western was ousted in the first round.  The last time the Colonials advanced as far as the second round was 2008.  That season, they advanced on penalty kicks over Skidmore College after a 0-0 double-overtime draw.  Western dropped a 3-0 decision to The College of New Jersey the next afternoon.

In 2007, the Colonials advanced all the way to the national semifinals in Lake Buena Vista, FL before falling to the nations top ranked team and eventual champion Wheaton College of Illinois, 3-0.