Chicago Red Stars forward Sarah Griffith has starred with a match treble as the Newcastle Jets downed Western Sydney Wanderers 4-2 in round two of A-League Women at Tamworth's Scully Park on Saturday afternoon.
Goalscoring has been an issue for the Jets in recent campaigns - they found the back of the net only 15 times in 2021-22 - but the American's three-goal haul in another stand-out performance for Newcastle showed she could solve that problem this year.
The 23-year-old scored in the 12th, 36th and 58th minutes as Newcastle overcame another slow start to produce a dominant performance.
It was not a completely flawless one though.
Newcastle's 1-0 lead was equalised in the 19th minute by Melissa Caceres when Tessa Tamplin's headed clearance in the Jets' 18-yard box put the ball on a platter for the Wanderers midfielder to finish into the net with a sublime outside-of-the-foot volley.
Griffith had opened the scoring with a composed left-footed shot into the bottom right corner past Wanderers shot-stopper Jordyn Bloomer.
The goal came after a Wanderers free kick. Jets centre-back Taren King, in her first appearance this season, played the ball to midfielder Murphy Agnew and the American threaded a perfectly timed pass through the Western Sydney backline to find her compatriot in space.
The Jets took took a 2-1 lead into half-time after Griffith scored with an impressive volley of her own after a corner in the 36th minute.
Newcastle then looked well in control as they added two more goals before Wanderers substitute Amy Harrison finally pulled one back in the 76th minute.
Griffith completed a hat-trick with a header in the 58th minute. Emily Garnier, who played alongside Griffith at Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL, floated a free kick from almost halfway into the Wanderers box and Jets all-time leading scorer Tara Andrews nodded on for her teammate.
Andrews, who started in place of injured Ash Brodigan, got on the scoresheet herself in the 67th minute with a trademark back-post header from an Agnew corner kick.
Agnew was again outstanding as well and the Jets would be far happier with the performance and result than their opening-round 2-1 loss to Brisbane Roar in Queensland one week earlier.
They next face Perth Glory when they return to Newcastle next weekend for their first game of the season at No.2 Sportsground.
Jets coach Ash Wilson made two changes to her starting side.
Andrews came in for Brodigan, who hurt her foot against the Roar, and King replaced Teigen Allen. Allen tweaked a hamstring at training during the week.
Teenage scholarship-holders Josie Allan and Chloe Walandouw both made their A-League debuts, taking the field in the 77th and 95th minutes respectively.
In other round-two games on Saturday afternoon, newcomers Western United made it back-to-back wins to start the season by beating Wellington 4-1, Brisbane drew 1-1 with Canberra and Sydney FC defeated Melbourne Victory 2-0.
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