The Lancers fired 19 shots in the game, putting eight on frame to net the hat trick, while the Cougars managed just two shots over the full 90 minutes of play.
"We're very pleased with the results we got today," said Head Coach Kristin St. Clair. "We were a little rusty to open the game, but the players worked through it and we got the result we wanted."
After more than two weeks off, CBU came out firing, ripping four shots in the first 18 minutes, the first two of which sailed high and the second two where saved by CCU's Averill Mackenzie.
The fifth shot finally did the trick when, in the 18th minute, Kimberly Allard sent a rebound across the box to Lindsay Vesling who took one dribble to her left and fired a shot into the back of the net. It was Vesling's fifth goal of the season and Allard's ninth assist.
Just two minutes later Fabiola Zanella da Silva had a similar goal when she brought down a pass in the box from Kylee Nicassio and after one bounce fired the ball in with her right foot.
Eva Solis finished the scoring in the first half for the Lancers, getting a pass through traffic after Amanda Lammers did a good job keeping the ball in near the end line. Solis one-timed the pass from the Lancer midfielder and put it just under the crossbar.
The three first half scores were all CBU needed as the Lancers dominated possession throughout the contest, needing just one save from Nicoline Jorgensen. The Lancer keeper got her ninth shutout of the season, tying the CBU single-season mark.
"The players were committed to continuing to create chances for each other and I thought we did a good job on the finishing end tonight," said St. Clair. "We continued to put pressure on their defense and created some dynamic opportunities through that. This is a good win for us to build on for tomorrow."
Six different players had shots on goal for CBU in the contest.
With the win the Lancers move to 16-2-1 on the year, just one win away from matching the program record for victories in a season.
CBU moves on to face the winner of No. 4 Mount Vernon Nazarene and No. 5 Oklahoma Wesleyan Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (EST) in the semifinals.
