No. 19 West Chester Hangs On For 9-7 Win Over No. 15 Seton Hill

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Ashley Pyle (Springfield, Pa./Garnet Valley) and Dina Cifelli (Robinsville, N.J./Notre Dame) each notched a pair of goals to lead 19th-ranked West Chester University to a 9-7 victory over 15th-ranked Seton Hill University on a sunny, but windy Saturday afternoon at Vonnie Gros Field.
 
West Chester (7-4, 5-3 PSAC) has now won three of its last four and moved into a tie with Seton Hill (8-4, 5-3) for fifth place in the conference standings.
 
The Golden Rams jumped out to an early 4-1 lead and never trailed in the pivotal conference matchup. Trailing 8-3with 15 minutes left in the contest, Seton Hill rattled off four straight goals to pull within one (8-7) with 9:29 remaining. However, Sarah Dennison (Fallston, Md./John Carroll) scored on a free position with eight minutes to go, and West Chester controlled the possession time for the majority of the rest of the game to pull out the win.
 
Seton Hill All-America midfielder, Emma Simmers, who entered Saturday's game as the PSAC's leading scorer with 43 goals, was held to her lowest goal output on the season (1) and registered just two points, another season low. West Chester defender Siena Childs (Philadelphia, Pa./Girls High) marked Simmers for the majority of the game, shutting down the Griffins' top threat.
 
The seven goals scored by Seton Hill also tied a season low. The Griffins scored seven goals in a loss to No. 2 Lock Haven earlier in the year. Mckayl Novak (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) and Danielle Ferguson (Fort Washington, Pa./Bridgewater) did a marvelous job bottling up Seton Hill's potent attack.
 
Merrilee Viguers (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) (6-3) was called upon to make just two saves, including a point-blank stop of an Simmers' attempt late in the second half. West Chester's defense limited Seton Hill to just 10 shots in the whole game.
 
West Chester travels to Shippensburg on Tuesday for a PSAC test on the road.