BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Gardner-Webb (6-3-2) defeated Charleston Southern (2-6-1) on a 5-2 decision in its first Big South Conference matchup of the season on Wednesday night from Greene-Harbison Stadium.
 
Maddie Turlington, who entered the night 5^th in the nation for points per game, continued her streak of dominance. Turlington scored her second hat trick in three matches, and registered an assist in tonight's contest.
 
Turlington moved into a tie for 5^th all time for career goals at Gardner-Webb with 35.
 
Livi Tanzer opened the scoring for the teams in the 2^nd minute before Turlington headed in her first goal of the day in the 13^th minute. The Bucanneers tallied their first just 22 seconds after to pull within a score.
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs moved back into a two-goal advantage in the 20^th minute as Julianna Jatkola blasted a shot into the top right of the goal. Just before the halftime whistle, the Bucs' Reese Beggs brought the team back within a score.
 
"Even though we scored three by halftime, I wasn't happy with the mistakes that led to goals against us. I challenged the team at halftime to clean things up and the second half was much better," said head coach Mike Varga.
 
In the second half, Turlington put away a pair of chances to extend the Gardner-Webb lead and put the match away to complete her hat trick. Her final score came off a penalty kick that she put into the top left of the net.
 
Tanzer and Alli Varga each had one assist for the Runnin' Bulldogs following their performance last week where they set the new single game assist record.
 
Freshman Chloe Leffler posted 6 saves in the victory as her record improved to 5-1 overall.
 
"The big thing for us is we have to do it again," said Varga. "One match never makes a conference season, so we have to be ready and do it again."
 
The Runnin' Bulldogs are next in action at conference opponent UNC Asheville on Saturday, September 24. The opening kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m.