Box Score
PRINCETON, N.J. - West Chester came up just short in its attempt at the school's fourth straight Eastern Pennsylvania Rugby Union (EPRU) championship, falling to Delaware, 6-3, Sunday afternoon at Windsor Fields on the campus of Princeton, N.J. in the women's rugby title game.
West Chester University (4-4) nearly saw lightning strike twice in as many days when Cheryl Johnson busted out a 60-meter run down the far sideline with no time remaining on the game clock. However, the speedy freshman was chased down from behind at the two-meter line. The Golden Rams could not punch the ball in, and the Blue Hens held on for the dramatic victory.
The Rams had advanced to the title game when Kate Rada scored with no time left to lift WCU to a 15-8 triumph over Shippensburg in the semifinals on Saturday. Sunday was almost a repeat performance.
"Penalties really killed us in the first half," West Chester head coach Tony DeRemer said. "Any possible momentum we could have gained was crushed by penalties."
Delaware capitalized on a pair of penalty kicks from Keegan Hackman to take a 6-0 lead into the break. That is when West Chester vowed to turn things around and came out with a more inspired effort the remaining 40 minutes.
Laura Meier converted a penalty kick in the 53rd minute for the Golden Rams to cut the deficit in half. However, that would be as close as West Chester would come until Johnson's last-ditch dash for the try line in the 80th minute.
The loss ends a three-year run atop the EPRU for West Chester. The Golden Rams have appeared in the EPRU Division I championship game in each of its six years as a varsity program.
Despite a .500 record in the fall, West Chester has posted a solid defensive effort in seven of its eight games. In three of the Golden Rams' four losses, the team has allowed a combined total of just six tries. Only top-ranked Penn State scored more than twice against West Chester during the fall.
West Chester played the EPRU championship weekend without Sara Glick, who was sidelined with a concussion.
