Box Score WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Host West Chester came from behind in the second half to tie the game, but visiting Ursinus scored off a penalty corner with 27 seconds left to upset the Golden Rams and re-claim the Snell Cup in a non-league regional rivalry Sunday afternoon at Vonnie Gros Field.
West Chester (7-2) saw its three-game winning streak in the series come to an end while Ursinus (8-1) delivered its head coach, Janelle Benner, her first win over the Golden Rams in the process. Ursinus evened the Snell Cup series at 16-16-4 with the victory. West Chester still holds a 30-26-12 mark in the all-time series, which dates back to the 1920s.
The Bears' leading scorer, Megan Keenan, made West Chester pay twice on penalty corners, picking up her 12th and 13th goals of the season in the process. Her blast from the top of the circle with 27 seconds left proved to be the game-winner. Keenan also scored off a corner with just three seconds left in the first half that put Ursinus on top, 1-0, heading into the break.
West Chester had an opportunity to tie the game and force overtime when the Golden Rams were awarded a penalty corner as time expired. West Chester forced a pair of corners in that opportunity, but Ursinus was able to hold off the Rams and claim its first win over West Chester since 2010.
The Golden Rams, who trailed 3-1 just 10 minutes into the second half, staged a comeback with a pair of goals from freshman
Rachal Toppi (Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro) four minutes apart. But, in the end, allowing a goal in the final 30 seconds of each half was too much to overcome for the home team.
Ursinus doubled its halftime lead four minutes into the second half when Amber Steigerwalt found the back of the cage.
Mary Spisak (Boiling Springs, Pa./Boiling Springs) finally got West Chester on the board four minutes later. But Ursinus' Danielle Stong killed that momentum just over a minute later that restored the visitor's lead to two goals.
Despite the loss, West Chester would never have been in a position to mount its second-half comeback had sophomore goalkeeper
Sarah Krause (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley) not single-handedly kept the Golden Rams in the game in the first half. Krause notched nine of her career-high 13 saves in the first 35 minutes as West Chester yielded seven corner opportunities to the Bears.
Ursinus goalkeeper, Danielle DeSpirito made eight saves while recording her first win over West Chester in three tries.
West Chester travels to No. 2 Shippensburg on Saturday for a showdown between the second and third ranked teams in Division II.
