WEST CHESTER, Pa.-Survive and Advance is phrase often uttered in the NCAA tournament and that is exactly what West Chester (16-3-2) did this afternoon winning 5-4 in PKs over Notre Dame College (OH) (14-4-3).
In the first half of play West Chester had their share of chances to score as they outshot Notre Dame by a 7-1 margin. However, due to some spectacular plays in net courtesy of Kyra McDowell Notre Dame managed to keep the score deadlocked at 0-0 heading to the half.
In the second half the Golden Rams continued to push hard once again outshooting their guests by a 16-3 margin, however, in spite of some close calls including a corner kick in the 81
st minute from
Nikki Caffey (Holland, Pa./Council Rock South) that drilled the crossbar but did not quite go in to keep the score even. This led to the game going to overtime where in spite of some great opportunities in overtime including a bouncing ball that could not quite be corralled by
Nikki Zaso (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) late in the second overtime.
This along with some stalwart defense from the Golden Ram backline managed to keep Notre Dame off the scoreboard.
McKenna Mullin (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy) also worked hard in net playing all 110 minutes and making five big saves to keep the score even.
With the score tied at the end of the second overtime the game went to penalty kicks to determine a winner. Heading into PKs Mullin gave way to
Brooke Myers (Middletown, Pa./Middletown Area) who handled the seven rounds of Penalty Kicks. Notre Dame jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the PKs but the Golden Rams remained unphased as they began their comeback in the third round when Myers made a big save and senior captain
Kaitlyn McFadden (West Nyack, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) buried a PK to make the score 2-1 at the end of the third round. West Chester and Notre Dame traded goals in the fourth round as
Shannon Cooley (Frederick, Md./Urbana) found the back of the net to keep West Chester alive. After another big save by Myers
Mandy McCarthy (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) converted her opportunity to send the penalty kicks to a sixth round.
 In the sixth round
Hannah Grandell (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) kept the Golden Rams alive following a successful Notre Dame penalty kick sending the game to a seventh round. In the seventh round Myers made a huge save and put the game on the foot of
Kaitlyn McFadden (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan) who was taking her first career PK as a Golden Ram. McFadden capitalized on this opportunity as she struck the ball cleanly sending it soaring into the upper right hand corner of the net and sending West Chester through to the next round and the Golden Ram faithful into a frenzy.
Coach Betty Ann Kempf Townsley said "… it (the game) came down to the wire and we had multiple opportunities to score through the game. I am so proud that this team kept fighting, working together and believing in one another. I think we were very well prepared for the penalty kicks and this paid off in the victory." Townsley also said "I was glad to see Brooke [Myers] get in goal and save to penalty kicks for us which was huge." When asked about McFadden Townsley said "Of all people I thought she [McFadden] could handle the pressure and she proved it today."
When asked about taking her first ever PK as a Golden Ram McFadden acknowledged that "First time ever taking a PK for the team and it was a crazy feeling. I also have to give props to our goalie [Myers] who played a big role in bringing us back."
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West Chester advances to the Sweet 16 where they will be playing the winner of the West Virginia Wesleyan/ESU contest at a location TBD.
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