LACEY, Wash. - Brandon Madsen recorded a hat trick in the first 24 minutes of the match along with two goals from Kyle Witzel, fueled the Saints 5-3 victory over Montana State Billings on Thursday. 

It did not take the leading goal scorer in conference to find the back of the net, as Madsen struck in the fifth minute of the match. McKray Kohn's cross found Witzel in the box, who connected with Madsen for his 13th goal of the season. Only three and a half minutes later, Kohn once again connected with Madsen, who scored his second goal to extend the Saints' (2-13-1, 2-8-1) lead to 2-0. Madsen capped off the hat trick in the 24th minute, off of a Yellowjackets (8-10-0, 6-6-0) turnover, Madsen dribbled past the goalkeeper and scored. With the clock winding down in the first half, Witzel struck home his fifth goal of the season after beating the defense to give SMU a 4-0 lead.

Montana State Billings sparked their second half comeback attempt in 62nd minute with their first goal of the match. Just eight minutes later, MSUB struck again, on a shot in the middle of the box, five yards out from Realf Zhivanaj. Their third unanswered goal of the half came in the 75th minute from the middle of the box by Niklas Schregel to cut the Saints' lead to 4-3. 

The Saints' worked down the pitch in the 80th minute to set up a corner kick from Sebastian Navarro, who found an open Witzel who headed the ball in for his second goal of the match and his sixth on the year. Navarro increased his assist total to nine, breaking the school record for most assists in a single season.

Griffin Small made a diving save after a corner kick by the Yellowjackets to keep the Saints up by two in the 81st minute. Two more shots for Montana State Billings missed their target and the Saints sealed the 5-3 victory.

"We really had a good look at MSUB in attack before the game," said head coach Rob Walker. "They have some great pieces to their game and it is clear that they have quality on and off the ball.  We were able to move the ball well in the 1^st half and did a great job getting behind them and any time you can score 4 goals against a quality side, it's a blessing. On the quality side, Brandon Madsen's 3 goals and Kyle Witzel's two were all outstanding.  Getting the two goal advantage in the final 10 minutes was key.  We thought Steven Murray's play at the right outside back position was refreshing and Steve really showed his ability for the full 90.  Sebastian Navarro's service on the last goal was also a bright spot."

Madsen took four shots on the day, three landing on goal, and all three connecting for goals. Kyle Witzel managed three shots, two on goals, both resulting in SMU goals. Navarro recorded four shots, one on goal to account for all 11 shots by the Saints. 

Small got the start at goalkeeper, playing all 90 minutes, while making six saves on 17 shots faced, with three goals allowed.

The Saints' final match of the season will be against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, Nov 4 at 2:00 p.m. The match will mark senior day for the Saints. Live stats and video will be available on smusaints.com