Marlborough?s Hat Trick Leads Huskers Over Oklahoma

Lincoln - Freshman forward Morgan Marlborough scored three times and the Husker offense reached the 50-goal mark in 2009, as the Nebraska soccer team ran away from Oklahoma in the second half for a 5-2 victory on Sunday afternoon at the Nebraska Soccer Field.

With their second Big 12 victory of the season, Sunday's win looks to help the Huskers (8-2-4, 2-1-2 Big 12) in their quest to climb up the league standings, while Marlborough continues her own climb up the record charts.

The Lee's Summit, Mo., native's three-goal effort increased her nation-leading total to 19, while becoming the freshman school record holder for single-season goals, passing the previous mark of 17 set in 1996 by both Lindsay Eddleman and Isabelle Morneau. The 19 goals are also the fifth-most overall by a Husker in a single season in school history.

On Sunday, Nebraska fell behind 1-0 for the second straight game, but Marlborough led the comeback effort with her first goal on a header from freshman Jordan Jackson to tie the contest in the 18th minute. Six minutes later, Marlborough earned one of her most impressive goals of the season after she was taken down by an OU defender on the right side of the penalty box. Marlborough then recovered to keep control of the possession and dribbled through the Sooner defense before beating OU goalkeeper Kelsey Devonshire with a shot off the far post to give Nebraska a 2-1 halftime lead.

Unbeaten when leading at the intermission (8-0-2), the Huskers struck quickly in the final period to ensure that streak would not be broken. Jackson produced her fourth goal of the season just 89 seconds into the second half when she connected on a straight on shot from 15 yards away to make it a two-goal Nebraska lead (3-1).

Marlborough's efforts were nearly countered by OU junior forward Whitney Palmer, who kept the Sooners in the match with the game's first goal in the 16th minute and another goal in the 61st minute to close the Husker lead to 3-2 with under 30 minutes remaining.

Nebraska separated itself from Oklahoma with 15 minutes left, when junior Blair Slapper's shot from 35 yards away was saved by Devonshire, but the deflection bounced off the crossbar and landed in Marlborough's lap for her third goal of the game.

The hat trick was Marlborough's second of the year, as the freshman also reached the three-goal plateau against Akron on Sept. 13 when she tied the single-game school record with four goals. Only 14 games into her freshman season, Marlborough is one of only seven Huskers in school history to produce multiple hat tricks in a career.

The Huskers added an insurance goal on a well-executed play in the 83rd minute, as sophomore Molly Thomas skipped a pass through the OU defense from the short corner to senior defender Anna Caniglia, who knocked in her second goal of the season.

Sunday's victory makes Nebraska 12-2-0 all-time against Oklahoma, while it also ended a strong four-game homestand in which the Huskers finished with a 3-0-1 record.

Nebraska now heads south for a matchup with the Texas Longhorns this Friday at 7 p.m. The Huskers will then return home to face No. 16 Texas A&M on Sunday, Oct. 18 at the Nebraska Soccer Field at 1 p.m.