No. 13 West Chester Holds On For Thrilling 14-10 Win Over Bloomsburg In PSAC Quarterfinals

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Dina Cifelli (Robinsville, N.J./Notre Dame) posted eight points, and Ashley Pyle (Springfield, Pa./Garnet Valley) registered seven, to lead 13th-ranked West Chester University to a 14-10 victory over visiting Bloomsburg in the PSAC Quarterfinals at Vonnie Gros Field Tuesday afternoon.
 
West Chester (13-4) ran its winning streak to eight games while avenging an 8-7 loss to Bloomsburg (8-8) in the regular season. As a result, the Golden Rams advance to the PSAC semifinals for the 12th consecutive year, making it every season since the conference went to a semifinal round in 2004. The Golden Rams are now 2-0 in the PSAC quarterfinal round, winning each of the last two seasons.
 
West Chester closed out the game with four consecutive tallies in the final 1:29, after Bloomsburg had rallied from six goals down with 11:38 to play to tie the game at 10-all with 4:22 to go. Cifelli had a hand in all four markers during that stretch to ensure that the Rams' advanced to the semifinals.
 
Caroline Kuchinsky (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) netted her 11th of the year, following a draw control secured by the Rams, that put West Chester back in front 11-10. Then, Cifelli was in the right place at the right time, standing in front of the Bloomsburg cage when a Huskies' defender attempted to save an errant pass from going out of bounds flung the ball over her should and back over the cage.
 
The ball went right to Cifelli, who caught it and shot in one motion, beating a surprised Bloomsburg goalkeeper to give the hosts a two-goal advantage. Cifelli then assisted on goals by Cowan and Pyle with 38 seconds and 19 seconds, respectively, remaining on the clock.
 
Bloomsburg crept back into the contest on the strength of six straight draw controls in the second half. The Huskies held an 11-7 advantage on draw controls after halftime and converted 3-of-8 free position attempts. However, West Chester gathered in four straight draw controls in the final four minutes of the playoff game to wrestle the momentum from the visitors.
 
Both goalkeepers, Bloomsburg's Abbey Burnett and West Chester's Merrilee Viguers (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley), registered nine saves. Viguers (10-3) made seven saves in the first half alone as she limited the Huskies to just one goal in the first 30 minutes of play.
 
West Chester built a 6-1 advantage by halftime thanks to a 6-0 run of its own, after Bloomsburg opened the scoring in the game. The one goal allowed in the first half marked the fewest WCU has allowed all year, tying the amount yielded to Kutztown earlier this season.
 
The Golden Rams will play the No. 2 seed in the tournament, Mercyhurst, on Friday at 4 p.m. at Charlotte Smith Field on the campus of Lock Haven University in the second of two semifinals. Top seed and host, Lock Haven, will play Seton Hill, who was an 17-11 winner over Indiana (Pa.), in the other semifinal at 1 p.m.
 
West Chester is 2-0 all-time against Mercyhurst in the PSAC Tournament since the Lakers joined the PSAC in 2009. Both times, West Chester came away with wins in the semifinals in 2009 and 2011. The Rams are 9-2 in the conference semifinals all-time.