A LeiLanni Nesbeth hat-trick helped propel Bermuda past Curaçao in the opening match of their Women’s Under-17 World Cup qualifying bid in Haiti.

Naquita Robinson’s side looked strong out of the gates, securing a dominant 6-1 victory.

Symira Lowe-Darrell opened the scoring for Bermuda in the 14th minute off of a pass from Teyah Lindo that she smashed into the top corner with one touch.

Curaçao responded two minutes later with Lindsey Hart scoring off a Bermuda miscue.

That was the end of the scoring for Curaçao, and Bermuda began to pile up the goals, starting with Nesbeth’s first of the day off a cross from Lowe-Darrell in the 27th minute.

“We began with a rough start, however we were able to settle down the game and start to play basic football,” Robinson said.

Lowe-Darrell continued to be involved with the first-half scoring for Bermuda, playing a short ball to Zakiyah Durham off of a corner kick which Durham sneaked in off the underside of the crossbar to stretch the lead to 3-1 just before half-time.

Nesbeth opened the scoring in the second half for Bermuda in the 67th minute, outpacing her defender off of a gorgeous through ball and beating the Curaçao keeper for her second strike on the day. Lindo notched a goal of her own in the 80th minute after controlling a high ball, beating her defender, and finishing from 22 yards to make it 5-1.

Nesbeth completed her hat-trick minutes later before being substituted out as Bermuda cruised to their 6-1 victory.

“We used a lot of the tactical components that we worked on in training, proving that our hard work paid off,” added Robinson on the victory.

“Even though we faced some challenges throughout the game, we were able to pick our heads up and have a good game. In the end, we had a great result and came out on top.”

Bermuda will continue to compete in Group 2 of the Caribbean Football Union with a game today against Dominica and on Sunday against hosts Haiti. The winners and top second-place teams among the groups will advance through to the next stage of qualifying.