SAN ANTONIO — In the pregame scouting meeting, Natalya Hendrus of the St. Mary's University Women's Soccer team said, "Helen, I'm going to need you to score a goal tonight." Lazaro responded with "two," and Hendrus fired back, "three."
 
So, freshman Helen Lazaro (Garland, Texas) met the challenge head-on and scored the first hat trick of her collegiate career in the Rattlers' 3-1 win over UT Permian Basin on Saturday night to improve to 2-0 in Lone Star Conference play and 4-1-1 on the year.
 
Lazaro opened the scoring in the 12th minute, driving into the penalty box and sending a right-footed kick into the upper far corner of the net for the 1-0 lead.
 
In the 18th minute, the Falcons (3-2, 0-2) tied the score as Kally Calcaterra found an empty net when Molly Lyons (Galveston, Texas) came out to block the ball, and Calcaterra stole it from her.
 
On a corner kick in the 53rd minute, freshman Emilee Durante (San Antonio) made the short pass to Lazaro, who took three steps with the ball and again flicked the ball into the upper far corner of the net for the game-winning goal.
 
In the 63rd minute, freshman Nia Mendiola (Fullerton, Calif.) stole the ball from the Falcons and fed it ahead to Lazaro, who beat a defender and the keeper to punch the ball into the lower left corner to seal the win.
 
Lazaro now has five goals on the young season, tying for the team lead with fellow freshman Kamrynn Martinez (Dallas). The two combined to take 15 of the team's 20 shots on the night and had four of the six shots on goal.
 
Freshman Callie Gilliam (Lake Jackson, Texas) earned her first collegiate win in goal. She entered in the 18th minute and made one save in 72:04 for the victory.
 
The Rattlers took all five corner kicks in the game, including four in the second half, and outshot the Falcons 20-to-7.
 
St. Mary's remains at home, hosting UT Dallas on Wednesday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. The Comets defeated Sul Ross State 3-0 in Alpine on Saturday and are one of four unbeaten teams (5-0-1) left in the Lone Star.