ALBION, Mich. -- It was a refreshing way to open the season for the Albion women's soccer team.

After notching just 18 goals during the entire 2024 season, the Britons piled on eight scores -- including three by freshman Chloe Salo in her collegiate debut -- to defeat Bluffton 8-1 at Alumni Field.

It was the most scored for Albion since August 30, 2014 when they notched nine against Alverno.

"I was very excited to see some goals scored in our opener," Albion head coach Ron Rainey said. "We challenged the team to attack and go forward early, and they responded well."

About a minute and a half into the contest, Salo struck on her first collegiate shot as she beat her defender just inside the left corner of the box and buried the ball into the lower right corner of the net for the match's first score.

"It's really neat to get your first shot to go in," Rainey said about Salo. "That really gave her confidence for the rest of the match."

Twelve minutes later, Salo scored again on a feed from Kelsi Green for a 2-0 Briton advantage.

Looking to add to their lead almost two minutes later, Mia Czarnowski crossed the ball into the box only for it to go off a Beaver and into the net for an own goal to make it 3-0.

Just 17:26 into her collegiate career, Salo registered a hat trick after stealing the ball on a short goal kick and then chipping it over the goalkeeper's head for the score.

It was Albion's first individual three-goal performance since Emily Brittain's trifecta on March 26, 2021 against Olivet.

Albion tallied a score on another own goal when Claire Gorno shot the ball and it ricocheted off a Bluffton defender's leg on the clear attempt and into the back of the net to go up five goals.

The Beavers notched a quick goal just seconds after the ensuing kickoff to get on the board, but Gorno would add two scores of her own to close out the half leading 7-1.

Albion's final goal came 2:31 into the second half on a freshman-to-freshman connection, as Brook Zeleny scored on a pass from Diane Hurtado.

The Britons out-shot the Beavers 24-6 in the match, while Maddie Welsh and Marleigh Chapman traded halves in net.

Eighteen players also saw minutes off the bench for Albion.

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Albion will stay home to face UM-Dearborn on Sunday, August 31 at 1 p.m.