Women's Lacrosse Set To Take On Rollins In NCAA Tournament

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LAKELAND, Fla. - West Chester University opens up play in the 2016 NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Tournament Friday evening when the eighth-ranked Golden Rams faceoff with seventh-ranked Rollins College at Bryant Stadium at 5 p.m.

Friday's winner advances to the second round to face Florida Southern on Saturday at 5 p.m. The winner of Saturday's South Region matchup will travel to Denver, Colo., for the NCAA Division II national semifinals, which will take place on May 19, 2016. At the national semifinals, the winner of the South Regional in Lakeland will face the winner of the South Regional in St. Charles, Mo., hosted by No. 2 seeded Lindenwood. Lindenwood is hosting No. 3 seeded Mercyhurst and No. 6 seeded Queens (N.C.) this weekend.   

West Chester, who is ranked eighth in latest IWLCA Division II Coaches' Poll, enters the NCAA Tournament having posted a 17-2 overall record and finished as runner-up in this past weekend's Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament after a 17-14 loss at then eighth-ranked Mercyhurst. In fact, both of West Chester's losses this season came against Mercyhurst as they fell 9-8 in double overtime to the Lakers during the regular season.

The Golden Rams, who are averaging 15.84 goals per game on the year, have two players that have tallied over 55 goals. Leading the way offensively for WCU is junior attacker Ashley Pyle and senior attacker Hannah Cowan. Pyle, who was a First-Team All-PSAC Team selection, is second in goals with 59, second in assists (36) and leads the team in points with 97, which is tied for fifth most in Division II, while Cowan has scored a team best 62 goals and has totaled 77 points as she has also recorded 15 assists on the year. 

On defense, the Golden Rams are allowing 7.37 goals per game and have caused 194 turnovers and picked up 351 ground balls. WCU's defense is paced by the play of senior midfielder Caroline Kuchinsky, who has caused 26 turnovers and has picked up 29 ground balls, while senior defender Danielle Ferguson has caused 21 turnovers and picked up 27 ground balls and senior midfielder Emily McAleer leads the team in ground balls with 34 and draw controls with 53. 

In goal, West Chester is led by sophomore Paige Mitros, who has a 7.27 goals against average and a 42.4 save percentage. On the year, Mitros has allowed 140 goals and collected 103 saves.
  
The Golden Rams are returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012 and are making its 11th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season. WCU has posted a 14-8 overall record in the tournament, including winning Division II National titles in in both 2002 and 2008. In addition, WCU has also made nine Final Four appearances and have had seven national runner-up finishes. West Chester has never been eliminated from the NCAA Tournament before reaching the national semifinals.   

Rollins, who is ranked seventh in the latest IWLCA Division II Coaches' Poll, comes into this weekend's NCAA Tournament sporting a 14-3 overall record with two of those three losses coming against Florida Southern. Rollins' other loss came on the road at Limestone on April 1. The Tars finished as runners-up in both SSC regular season and at the SSC Tournament. 

The Tars, who are second in the SSC in both scoring (12.47 goals per game) and points per game (17.00), have three players that have scored 30 or more goals. Leading the way offensively for Rollins is senior midfielder Tyler Thomas. Thomas, who was a First-Team All-SSC selection, is second in the SSC in goals scored (46) and she has tallied 50 points and recorded 92 shots. In addition to Thomas, freshman midfielder Kallie German is second on the team in both goals scored (39) and ground balls (26) and senior midfielder Kristina Coppolino has tallied 31 goals, totaled 38 points and has had a team leading 34 draw controls. 

Much like Florida Southern, Rollins makes its living on defense as the Tars lead the SSC in scoring defense as they are allowing 6.88 goals per game and have caused 142 turnovers and have picked up 288 ground balls. The Tars defense is paced by the play of freshman defender Lindsey Van Beck and sophomore goalie Malorie Olin. Van Beck leads the team in caused turnovers with 22 and has picked up 19 ground balls, while Olin is one of the top goalies in Division II as she is sixth nationally in save percentage (51.5 percent) and has picked up 28 ground balls and has had 118 saves and a 5.22 goals against average, which is eighth best in Division II.  

Rollins is making its fourth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance this season as the Tars are 1-3 in the tournament and have made two national semifinal appearances. Last season, Rollins earned the No. 4 seed in the South Region and fell 12-3 at No. 1 ranked Lock Haven in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. 

West Chester is 3-1 all-time against Rollins, including being 1-0 in the NCAA Tournament as these two schools squared off in the 2012 national semifinals in Louisville, Ky.