"Offensively we played pretty well," said Catamounts coach Leigh Hasse. "We maintained possession well the entire game, but at times we didn't go forward quite as well as I would've liked. It's early in the season, though, and this is a work in progress."

Sophomore Claire Wagner put Panther Creek on the scoreboard in the third minute Wednesday when she scored off a corner kick. Then 30 minutes later, Clark took over and put the Catamounts way out in front.

In a matter of three minutes and three seconds, Clark put the ball in the back of the net three times to push Panther Creek's lead to four. Her third goal came off a rebound that ricocheted right to her and she slipped the ball past Jaguars' goalie Lily John.

"I get great support from my teammates," Clark said. "And on two of the goals I kind of stole them from Bailee (Jonston). I guess I was just in there in the mix the whole time and kept coming up with the ball at the right place at the right time."

Athens (1-3, 1-2 Tri-Nine) avoided the shutout with 2:20 left in the first half when junior Emily Newsom fired a shot into the top right corner of the goal. The Catamounts led 4-1 at the break.

Panther Creek pushed its lead back to four early in the second half on a Jonston goal from 25 yards out. The senior sailed the ball just over the outstretched hands of John.

Newsom pulled the Jags back to within three with 8:30 remaining when she scored on a penalty kick. The Catamounts were whistled for a handball in the box and Newsom capitalized.

Panther Creek (4-2, 3-2) tacked on another goal late when Maddy Bisantz headed the ball in off a Kennedy Garrett shot that bounced straight down in front the net off the crossbar.

"Kennedy's got cannon for a foot," Hasse said. "We told her to take some more shots, and she did. And it ended up leading to a goal."

The win was a bounce-back victory for the Catamounts, which dropped a hard-fought 1-0 game at Green Hope earlier in the week.

"We've had a couple tough losses so far," Hasse said. "Luckily we'll get a second chance at those teams as the conference schedule moves on."