By BRENDEN SOARES

Former Pilgrim standout Nicole Starkey-Cox had no problem finding the back of the net on Saturday afternoon, chalking up her first collegiate hat-trick in UMass-Dartmouth’s 4-3 overtime victory over Keene State.

The junior midfielder’s scoring spree began in the 40th minute with the score knotted at one apiece, as she tucked home a pass from Courtney Hewitt inside the right-hand post.

The advantage enjoyed by Starkey-Cox and the Corsairs did not last long, however, as Keene State turned the tide of the match in the span of three minutes just under a third of the way through the second half.

The Owls’ Patricia Norton scooped in a rebound to tie the contest in the 57th, and Sierra Trzepacz followed up on the hour mark with an effort from 20 yards to give the visitors a 3-2 lead.

With the clock counting down, Starkey-Cox and UMass-Dartmouth then started to fire to life in search of an equalizer, and their efforts were rewarded with 3:01 left in regulation.

The ex-Patriot leveled proceedings with her third of the season, an unassisted tally that was too strong for Keene State goalkeeper Danielle Warhall.

In the end, the sides could not be separated, leading to the war of attrition known as college soccer overtime

It was a situation that both the Corsairs and Owls had grown accustomed to, with both teams entering bonus time for the fourth time this season.

Seven-and-a-half minutes into the extra session, Starkey-Cox finished off her hat trick, firing in a shot inside the upper corner of the goal after a wild sequence that was initiated by a shot by Abby Silva that struck the crossbar.

On Monday, the Little East Conference took notice of Starkey-Cox’s efforts and tabbed her as the league’s offensive player of the week for her performance, which helped UMass-Dartmouth to improve its record to 6-5-1 on the season.

Other notes

Ex-Hawk Ryan Brannigan and Pilgrim alum Andrew Leddy had productive afternoons on the gridiron as their teams locked horns on Saturday.

Brannigan chalked up five tackles for Endicott, who were looking to reach the .500 mark after dropping their first three games of the season, but had found winning ways in wins over Nichols and MIT.

Leddy responded with six stops of his own for Salve Regina, while adding half a sack for a Seahawk defense that finished the afternoon with six takedowns of beleaguered Gull signal-callers Sam Ouellette and Michael Scherer.

Eventually, Leddy’s squad gained the upper hand, Salve Regina clipping Endicott’s wings 40-21 and extending their home winning streak to eight in the process.

Elsewhere on Saturday, Warwick Vets graduate Nick Salois recorded his first interception of the season, picking off Plymouth State quarterback Zack Edwards in the second quarter of Bridgewater State’s 45-19 triumph over the Panthers.