Box Score Box Score
BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Returning to the field where it won the 2011 national championship, third-ranked West Chester University came from behind in the second half to down second-ranked host Bloomsburg, 2-1 Tuesday afternoon.
West Chester (2-1, 1-0 PSAC East) opened conference play with the win over Bloomsburg (4-1, 0-1), knocking the Huskies from the ranks of the undefeated. The Golden Rams scored twice in the second half to erase a 1-0 halftime deficit en route to their second straight win over Bloomsburg on the Huskies’ home field. West Chester knocked Bloomsburg out of the NCAA semifinals with a 3-2 win on penalty strokes last November.
Senior forward Kayla Gluchowski was in on both West Chester second-half goals. She knotted the game up at 1-apiece in the 38th minute off an assist from Michele Schrift and then fed teammate Megan Callanan for the game-winner in the 51st minute. It was Gluchowski’s third goal of the season. She leads the team with seven points on the year.
Stef Pirri created the scoring opportunity, taking a shot on cage that was saved by Bloomsburg goalkeeper, Megan Eppely. The rebound kicked out to Schrift, who passed over to Gluchowski for the finish.
The game-winner came in a player-up situation for the Golden Rams. Callanan notched her second goal of the season to put the Rams on top, 2-1.
West Chester weathered a pair of penalty corner opportunities in the final five minutes as Kristin Arnold came up with a pair of saves to preserve the one-goal advantage. Arnold was credited with eight saves in the contest.
With the win, the Golden Rams erased all memory of its setback at Shippensburg on Saturday and got back to their winning ways. The match was one of two pivotal regular-season showdowns with Bloomsburg, who is the four-time defending PSAC East champion as well as four-time defending conference tournament champion. West Chester takes the early upper hand in the race for the top seed in the East.
Next up, West Chester returns home to host No. 5 Indiana, Pa. on Friday at 4 p.m., before welcoming fellow PSAC West foe Seton Hill on Saturday at 1 p.m.
