ADRIAN, Mich. - On Tuesday evening at Docking Stadium, the Adrian women's soccer team opened the conference portion of its 2021 schedule with an emphatic 5-1 victory over visiting, Alma.

Four different Bulldogs scored for the home team, including senior, McKenna Mahoney, who tallied her team-leading eighth and ninth goals of the season. It is was her sixth career game in which she scored multiple goals.

Makenna Mascaro, in her second game back after a brief recovering from an injury, also put one home for the black and gold, as did Alexandria Dryps and Kaitlyn Dake.

Junior, Eve Davis continued her impressive run with her third mutli-assist effort in the last four matches. Dryps rounded out the scoring with a pair of assists herself.

"We played one of the most difficult non-conference schedules in the country," said head coach Ali Alamdari postgame. "It paid off with our effort tonight."

The 'Dogs, who entered Tuesday night with an even 5-5 record after opening the season with ten non-league games, found their offensive touch in the early moments of the match.

After an Adrian corner kick fell into the traffic jam in the penalty area, Dryps managed to create some space to get a shot off. The senior's try ricocheted off the inside of the right woodwork and back into play where Mascaro would recover, sending a low-lining shot into the bottom right corner to opening the scoring after six and-a-half minutes.

Then, less than two minutes later, a sloppy turnover by the Scots became a clean pick-up by Dryps on the near sideline. The Oxford, Michigan native found a wide-open Mahoney streaking into the box. The Bulldogs' captain made a couple touches on the ball before popping a shot over the head of the Alma goalkeeper.

Mahoney would go on to add her second goal of the match in the 31st minute off a brilliant find from Davis. The play began near the Scots bench as Kelsey Zoli claimed possession and worked her way in towards the middle of the field. After gaining a little ground, Zoli opted a pass to Davis, who after settling the ball down, made an extra pass to her left to Mahoney. The senior proceeded to drive a shot into the top right corner, extending the Adrian lead to 3-0.

Not long after, Davis would notch her third multi-dime match in four appearances, this time connecting with Dryps on a long cross into the heart of the Scots' penalty box.

Then, in the early stages of the second half, with the Bulldogs still hunting for more, it was Dake who recorded her first career goal in the black and gold.

A long ball sent up the field was collected by the junior and carried across the turf towards U.S. 223. After establishing a presence inside the Alma attacking end, Dake wound up and launched a dagger from around 20 yards out into the left side of the Scots' goal.

The stunning tally was not only Dake's first with Adrian, but was also her first career goal after transferring over from Saginaw Valley State prior to the start of the season.

"MIAA matches always bring a heightened intensity," said Alamdari. "It was great to rise to the moment and execute early and often. We've had a few players nursing injuries over the past few weeks, and we did our best to limit their minutes and appearances as needed so we'd be fresh and ready for conference play. We're getting healthy at the right time and that investment paid off tonight."

In all, Adrian (6-5, 1-0 MIAA) mustered 18 shots, including 10 on goal.

Taylor Fischer turned in six saves in net for the locals, who now turn their attention to a road match at Kalamazoo on Saturday afternoon.