No. 9 West Chester Pulls Away Late For 18-11 Win

Box Score

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Attacker Ashley Pyle (Springfield, Pa./Garnet Valley) scored five goals and finished with eight points as ninth-ranked West Chester scored six of the last seven tallies to take an 18-11 decision from visiting Slippery Rock Friday afternoon at Vonnie Gros Field.
 
West Chester (9-1, 4-1 PSAC) held a six-goal lead at halftime (11-6). However, Slippery Rock (6-3, 2-2) busted out of the gates after the break by scoring five of the first six markers of the second half and cut the deficit to two (12-10).
 
Golden Rams head coach Ginny Martino blew through two of her three timeouts during that 11-minute span, but the veteran mentor managed to calm things down and rally the troops for the final 20 minutes.
 
Olivia Martin (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) got the final push going when she scored on a nifty underhand shovel while coming around the left post of the cage from the "X".
 
Almost two minutes later, Hannah Cowan (Wilmington, Del./Ursuline Academy) scored her fourth goal of the game and 33rd of the season, followed by Sami Barnett's (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) third of the game 15 seconds after that, which ballooned the Golden Rams lead back to five at 15-10.
 
Pyle then tacked on a pair of goals while West Chester had an extra attacker, and the lead was its largest of the day at 17-10.
 
Dina Cifelli (Robbinsville, N.J./Notre Dame) finished with four assists. Kristen Vath (Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley) and Martin each scored twice and added an assist. A total of 10 different players contributed to the scoring with either a goal, or assist.
 
Slippery Rock's Erin Wilcox posted a hat trick while Ally Culhane scored twice.
 
Paige Mitros (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) was credited with six saves in the win to improve to 9-1 in goal for West Chester. Slippery Rock's Jordan Wagner made 13.
 
The Golden Rams host Gannon at Vonnie Gros Field on Saturday at 3 p.m.