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WEST CHESTER, Pa. - On a clear and mild fall afternoon the No. 7 West Chester University field hockey team opened its season against the No. 10 Adelphi University Panthers at Vonnie Gross Field. The Golden Rams won by a final score of 6-0.
In the first half, West Chester (1-0, 0-0 PSAC) took control as it broke through just five minutes in when Mackenzie Mlkvy (Berlin, N.J./Eastern) converted a deflection in front of the goal to give the Golden Rams the early 1-0 advantage. The lead would grow as the Golden Rams broke through again seven minutes later when Kaitlin Hatch (Sewell, N.J./Washington Twp.) turned an assist from Morgan Snodgrass (Egg Harbor, N.J./Egg Harbor Twp.) into a goal to move the score to 2-0.
The Golden Rams offense broke through again just three minutes later when Caitlin Kelly (Coatesville, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) took a perfect pass from Rachel Toppi (Glassboro, N.J./Glassboro) and deposited it into the back of the net. Toppi got in on the action in the 30th minute when she converted a deflection off the post into a goal to give the Golden Rams a 4-0 advantage.
In the second half, it was more of the same as the Golden Rams found the back of the net two more times thanks to goals from Kelly and Mlkv, their second of the day for both players, in the 37th and 56th minutes, respectively.
West Chester goalkeeper, junior transfer Marissa Elizard (North Wales, Pa./North Penn) had a relatively easy day in the cage as she did not face a single shot in the victory. . Her counterpart, senior Amanda Gargiulo, worked hard and made 10 saves on the day, however, it would not be enough to slow down the potent Golden Ram offense.
The Golden Rams will return home on Tuesday for another 4 p.m. start at Vonnie Gros Field when they host No. 5 LIU-Post.
