No. 11 West Chester Rides Second Half Surge To Road Win, 17-9

Box Score
SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Alex Wendig (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) posted seven points on a hat trick and four assists while Sami Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) scored five times and also had seven points as No. 11 West Chester downed host Shippensburg, 17-9, in a PSAC women's lacrosse contest Wednesday afternoon at Robb Sports Complex.
 
West Chester (12-0, 7-0 PSAC) runs its season-opening win streak to 12 games while maintaining its spot atop the conference standings. Shippensburg (6-6, 2-5) flirted with an upset bid for a majority of the game. The Raiders held a 7-5 advantage at halftime. However, West Chester outscored Shippensburg, 12-2 in the second half to put the issue to rest.
 
A three-goal spurt in just two minutes of action to open up the second half was the beginning of an 8-0 run by the Golden Rams that gave the visitors their first lead since the opening goal of the game. Emily Schulze (Harleysville, Pa./North Penn) fueled the surge with all four of her goals on the day during the eight-goal run. She scored three straight times within a five-minute span to break a 7-all tie and wrestle control of the game away from the upset-minded Raiders.
 
Shippensburg's Madi Newman ended the spurt with 12:43 remainig to make it a 13-8 contest. However, West Chester slashed any hopes of a comeback with four more markers to take a 17-8 lead.
 
Tara Morrissey (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) scored all four of her points (3G, 1A) in the second half.
 
The Golden Rams outshot the Raiders, 32-22, and held a 17-11 edge in draw controls. The hosts committed 22 turnovers to the visitor's 17, and West Chester cleared the ball 17 of 19 times. Yet, Shippensburg was playing very well for much of the afternoon, frustrating its guest until the final 30 minutes.
 
Julianne Clemens (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO) made three saves for West Chester to improve to 8-0 on the year. She played just over 30 minutes total, splitting some time in the first half with Nicole Martins (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley), who made four saves.
 
West Chester travels to Edinboro on Saturday for another PSAC contest at 1 p.m.