Goddard continues to dominate for Piranhas with second hat trick in two weeks

It is looking to be the best player move made by the Piranhas, bringing Stephanie Goddard from Germany to play for the W-League Piranhas.

For the past two weeks Goddard has been lighting up opposing defenses racking up two hat-tricks in consecutive games for Virginia Beach.

United Soccer Leagues announced the W-League Team of the Week today, with Virginia Beach’s Steffi Goddard named Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. After scoring a hat trick last week including a stoppage-time winner, Goddard put three past Dayton this week, once again including a stoppage-time game-winning goal.

Following Virginia Beach’s first win last week, the Piranhas headed to Dayton, home of the Atlantic Division leading Dutch Lions. Goddard started the match off with a goal in the seventh minute and struck again in the 56th to give the Piranhas a 3-2 lead. Dayton thought it had sewn up a draw with a game-tying strike in the 85th minute, but Goddard came to the rescue once more with another stoppage-time winner.

“Steffi’s performance this weekend shows just how much she understands the game of soccer,” Piranhas coach Wendy Waddell said. “Her positioning on the field and pure athletic ability allows her to create scoring opportunities.”

The hat trick put Goddard second in the W-League scoring charts with six goals. Tied with Goddard is fellow Team of the Week selection Edite Fernandes of Santa Clarita, who scored twice last week. Both women are chasing Tiffany Weimer of Vancouver, whose game winner against LA put her atop the scoring charts.

Defenders got in the act as well, with Elizabeth Eddy and Laura Novikoff each netting game-winners for their respective sides.