Soccer teams are always looking for pure goal scorers, so plenty of local squads must be envious of the Hill-Murray girls’ soccer team. They have a bona fide finisher in Julianna Gernes.

Gernes, a senior forward, scored three goals Tuesday in the Pioneers’ 5-1 victory over Simley. It was her fifth hat trick and 20th goal in 10 games. She’s scored in every contest this season so far, except for Hill-Murray’s opener.

She’s not getting too caught up in her 10-game scoring streak, but it’s fitting that in her senior year the dedicated soccer nut is getting rewarded.

“The goal streak to me is a reflection of all my work,” Gernes said. “Not just this year but my whole soccer career. Soccer is something I truly care about, and I put my heart into every game. Having said that, I plan to keep working hard every game I play, and if I do that, I believe I can keep up my scoring streak.”

Coach Simbo N’diaye praised Gernes as an all-around, elite forward who can do it all.

“She receives the ball. She reads the ball. She can dribble,” said N’diaye, a former assistant coach who was promoted this season. “She can take on people. She has great speed. She’s a team player. She has pretty much everything you’d like to see.”

Gernes is constantly a target for opposing defenses. She’s skilled at being able to read the attention, adapt and help set up her teammates to create other scoring chances.

The streak would be nonexistent without her teammates, she said.

“My whole team helps me score. I get a lot of the recognition, but it’s really everyone,” Gernes said. “It starts with the goalkeeper making the save all the way up to the midfielders finding those through-balls to me. Without my team I wouldn’t be where I am.”

The Pioneers started out a little shaky on the defense, losing their first three games of the season while being outscored 12-3. They subsequently made adjustments and tried different combinations. The players have since gelled and have continued to build cohesion and confidence in winning seven of their next eight games. Gernes lauded the team’s improvement on the defensive line.

Inexperience might have played a role in Hill-Murray’s rocky start. The Pioneers are young and have a lot of first-year players on the varsity.

“But [the defense] has improved every single game,” Gernes said. “I don’t think the team ever got nervous because we knew we all were willing to work our hardest and stick with it.”

To the coach, it’s not the goal-scoring or improved defense that will make his team tick.

“The strength of the team is team unity,” N’diaye said. “They all fight for each other. That’s what makes the difference. They just trust each other. They work for each other.”

They’re hoping that unity, an improved defense and a scoring streak can carry them to postseason success.

“At the beginning of our season, we all sat down and made a long list of team goals,” Gernes said. “But I know that going to state is in the back of everyone’s mind.”