WEST CHESTER, PA - When the West Chester University womens lacrosse team takes the field on Saturday afternoon vs. Lock Haven University, it will mark the 19th time in the 20-year history of participation by the Golden Ram in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference that WCU will be playing in the leagues title game.
Lock Haven and WCU will lock horns at 1 p.m. this Saturday on the Multi-Purpose Turf Field located on WCUs South Campus behind the Dr. Russell L Sturzebecker Health Sciences Center. Tickets for the event are $7 for all adults and $2 for students with ID.
West Chester has captured 17 PSAC Championships during the course of its tenure in the conference and has missed playing in the PSAC finale just once since joining the league in 1983 (2000). The Golden Rams have also dropped just one championship match - in 2003 when West Chester was beaten by Bloomsburg.
An even more important outcome of Saturdays game is a berth in the NCAA Division II National Championship final four scheduled for Benedictine University outside of Chicago on May 13-14. Lock Haven has been listed as the top team in the NCAA Division II South Region all year. Its early-season victory over Limestone - the current #2 team - and present 17-1 record may propel the Bald Eagles back into the NCAA II Tournament for the second straight year despite the outcome of the PSAC title game. A victory is more imperative for West Chester since the Golden Rams have been stuck in the third slot behind second-ranked Limestone (SC).
In the IWLCA NCAA Division II National Poll, the Golden Rams have jumped to #3 in the country behind #1 Adelphi and #2 LIU-C.W. Post.
West Chester has competed in four of the five NCAA Division II National Championship Tournaments since its inception in 2001, reaching the finals all four times. The Golden Rams are 4-0 in the semifinals but just 1-3 in the title game. Lock Haven made its first NCAA II appearance last year and lost to the Golden Rams in the semis.
The Golden Rams have been simply dominant in the PSAC when it comes to the league championship. West Chester is 17-1 in the PSAC title game since joining the conference in the sport of womens lacrosse in 1983. The PSAC began celebrating its womens lacrosse season with a title game at the end of the year starting in 1979 when Lock Haven captured the first league championship. The Bald Eagles also won titles in 1980 and 1981 but have not worn the crown in a quarter-century.
Kutztown, which has long since ceased womens lacrosse operations, collected the PSAC Championship in 1982, but that was the last any PSAC team would see of the coveted trophy from 1983-87. The Golden Rams arrived and rolled through five consecutive titles before leaving the league from 1988-91 in search of a schedule filled with local Division I programs.
Millersville won the PSACs from 1988-90 and Bloomsburg captured the crown in 1991, but the Golden Rams returned to the conference in 1992 and proceeded to claim eight consecutive PSAC Championships through the 1999 campaign.
Bloomsburg became the only school to win the PSAC crown with West Chester in the league when the Huskies earned the title in 2000 and beat WCU in 2003. However, West Chester has won the last two PSAC titles and four of the past five beginning in 2001. Lock Haven, Millersville and Bloomsburg are all tied with three PSAC Championships each, while East Stroudsburg, IUP and Shippensburg have never claimed a league championship.
West Chester is led by three players who have scored an unprecedented 60 goals each this season and have climbed into the Top 10 on the WCU single-season goal scoring list.
Senior attack Katelyn Martin (Downingtown/Downingtown) has 78 goals on the season to lead the team and now has the fifth-most goals ever tallied in one campaign. She needs just two to pass her own fourth-place mark (79 in 2004) and five to roll by her own 2005 total of 82. She shares that second-place mark with Erika Baker (1993). The all-time single-season record for goals is 93 set by Kathleen Sheehan in 2004.
Martin currently has 276 career goals - an NCAA Division II, PSAC and WCU record by miles. Her 73 career assists ranks seventh in school history, while her 349 career points is a WCU and PSAC all-time mark. She ranks third in career scoring at the NCAA II level behind all-time leader Deb Wood (359) and runner-up Stacey Reynolds (352) both of Gannon.
Against Shippensburg in the PSAC Semifinals on Tuesday, Martin became just the fifth Golden Ram to break the century mark in points when she recorded her career-best 103rd. She needs three to catch Mary Johnson (106 in 1985) and four to tie Kirstin McGoldricks third-place mark of 107 set last year. Baker is second all-time with 128 and Sheehan holds the mark of 131 set in 2004.
Junior attack Christine Kane (Oreland/Springfield-MONTCO) has churned up her offense another level by scoring 66 goals in 2006. She ranks seventh all-time for a single season, needs just three goals to reach sixth, and can become just the sixth Golden Ram to reach 70 goals in one campaign if she scores four more times this year.
Sophomore attack Stephanie Kienle (West Chester/West Chester Henderson) has moved into the Top 10 as well after she posted her 63rd goal vs. Shippensburg. She needs three to pass Sarah Harris for ninth (65 in 1994).
On Tuesday, the Golden Rams found themselves in a shocking 5-1 hole vs. the Red Raiders of Shippensburg in the PSAC Semifinals. West Chester had never lost a PSAC Semifinal Playoff game and had outscored Shippensburg 46-20 in two blowouts this year. But the Red Raiders jumped on top early and held a 6-4 lead heading into the break.
Then Martin took over. The senior finished the game with seven points on six goals and one assist as West Chester outscored the Red Raiders 12-4 in the second half. Kane set up many of her teammates second-half goals, finishing the game with seven points on three scores and four helpers. Kienle scored four times and added one assist for a five-point game, while senior Molly Halberstadt (Lansdale/North Penn), freshman Gina DiDomenicis (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) and junior Mandy Masoner (West Chester/West Chester East) each posted solo goals. Junior Carolyn Kacergis (Richboro/Council Rock) and senior Christa Somits (West Chester/West Chester Henderson) each had one assist, and senior goalkeeper Chelsea Marshall (Media/Episcopal Academy) earned her 16th win of the season by halting 12 shots on net.
The Golden Rams closed out the regular season by winning three games in four days vs. two PSAC opponents and powerful Stonehill College - the team that knocked off the Golden Rams for the 2005 NCAA Division II Championship.
On Saturday against Millersville, West Chester used a 14-2 second-half advantage to blowout the Marauders 20-5. It marked the ninth time this season that the Golden Rams had clipped the opposition for at least 20 goals.
Kane wound up with nine points on six goals and three assists, while Kienle posted seven points on five goals and two helpers. Martin had the hat-trick and assisted on two other goals for a five-point effort.
Other goal scorers for West Chester included Masoner who tallied twice, and freshman attack Jackie Baker (Media/Penncrest) who scored once with four assists. She finished the game with five points and complemented Masoner who ended up with three after also getting credit for an assist. Halberstadt and junior Maureen Clifton (West Chester/West Chester Henderson) each had a goal and an assist, while DiDomenicis scored once and Somits had one helper. Marshall halted 10 shots on net to earn the win.
On Thursday the Golden Rams exorcised some demons by beating Stonehill 10-9 in a rematch of last seasons Division II National Championship Game won by the Skyhawks. Down 5-2 at the half, the Golden Rams stormed back thanks to hat-tricks by Kane and Kienle, and a six-point effort from Martin who scored twice and set up four other goals.
Masoner and Halberstadt each contributed a goal, while Kane finished with four points after setting up one assist. Somits also had an assist for the Golden Rams and Marshall halted seven shots on net to earn the win.
On Wednesday, West Chester pounced on East Stroudsburg in the Poconos 18-6 in a PSAC contest. Martin finished up with seven points on five goals and two assists, while Kienle had six points on a quintet of goals and one assist. Baker turned in two goals and three assists for a five-point effort, and both Masoner and Kane each scored twice.
Junior Stephanie Bell (Coatesville/Coatesville) posted a three-point game with a goal and two assists, and Halberstadt contributed her daily goal to help round out the WCU scoring. Freshman Amanda Barimani (West Chester/West Chester Henderson), Masoner and Somits each had an assist. Marshall had 13 saves in earning the victory.
