Ashley Witt had her first four-goal game as a member of the Nansemond River field hockey team as the Lady Warriors defeated visiting Churchland High School of Portsmouth 4-0 Monday afternoon. Nansemond River (3-2, 0-0) outshot Churchland 16-0 in the game.

After the Lady Warriors kept the ball on the Lady Truckers’ side for virtually the entire first 13 minutes, Churchland was called for obstruction just outside the goal circle in the center.

Erin Rice ran up to the ball, and slammed it toward the left side of the goal. Just before the ball went out of bounds, Witt, standing near the endline, swung her stick and knocked in the game’s first goal.

The junior’s second goal came at the 12-minute mark, when she sloughed through a mass of bodies on the left side of the Churchland goal, and slipped the ball just under the goalkeeper’s stick.

The Lady Truckers got the ball on the Lady Warriors’ side of the field briefly, but the Nansemond River defense qui-ckly fought them off, and Tara Williams got a penalty stroke with just over two minutes to play in the first half. She passed the ball to Witt, who spun around and completed her hat trick by sending a bouncing shot into the net.

But Witt and Williams weren’t finished, as they teamed for another goal mere seconds before the buzzer went off. Churchland was called for a foul inside the goal circle, and Williams sent Witt the ball as Witt charged across the center.

Nearing the right side of the goal, she flipped the ball back toward the left corner, faking out the Churchland defense for one more goal.

&uot;I had a lot of energy out there today,&uot; Witt said. &uot;It must have come from eating at Burger King before the game!&uot;

Even with all their success, Witt could see that her team hadn’t played at its full potential on Monday. &uot;We were kind of down, not up to our caliber,&uot; she said. &uot;We have to work on our passing and communication. We really weren’t talking much out there today.&uot;

The Lady Warriors will play their first Southeastern district game on Wednesday, Sept. 4 at home against Western Branch.