NCAA Quarterfinal Game Notes
WEST CHESTER, Pa. - West Chester University's women's lacrosse squad will face East Stroudsburg in the NCAA Quarterfinals Saturday evening at 5 p.m. at Vonnie Gros Field.
Parking lots will open Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Spectators are asked not to arrive before 3:30 p.m. because the lots will all be blocked off and closed due to the university's graduation ceremony going on next to Vonnie Gros Field inside Farrell Stadium. Tickets are $7 for adults, $3 for students/senior citizens and $2 for children. Children under 2 years of age will be admitted free.
West Chester University faces East Stroudsburg University in the NCAA Quarterfinal round match Saturday night at 5 p.m. This marks the first such meeting between the two conference rivals in the NCAA Tournament. However, it is the second time they have squared off against one another at Vonnie Gros Field this season. West Chester was a 14-7 winner back on March 28 when the two met last. That was the lone blemish on ESU's conference record and the sole reason that the Warriors finished in second place in the league standings.
A WEST CHESTER WIN TODAY WOULD ...
Improve WCU to 20-0, equaling the most wins in a single season and matching thelongest winning streak in a single season in school history.
Tie for the eighth-most wins in a single season in NCAA history.
Advance WCU to the national semifinals for the 10th time in school history.Improve WCU to 4-0 in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Tournament (2010-12).
Improve WCU to 4-1 at home in the NCAA Tournament (2002, 2005, 2010).
Improve WCU to 13-9 all-time in the NCAA DII Tournament.
Improve WCU to 12-0 at home in 2018 – the most wins at home in a single season,and setting the record for the longest win streak at home in a season in school history.
Improve WCU to 4-0 all-time in the NCAA Tournament against current members ofthe PSAC.
Mark the first WCU team to reach the national semifinals in its particular sport sincethe women's soccer team in 2006 (23-0)
AROUND THE OTHER REGIONS
   All four No. 2 seeds were winners on Friday in the first round of the NCAA DII Tournament. In fact, three of the four games were decided by three goals, or less. Only Regis (Colo.) win over University of Indianapolis, 21-6, was a lopsided outcome. Florida Tech defeated Limestone, 13-11, and will move on to face top-seeded Florida Southern. Adelphi defeated LIU-Post, 13-10, and moves on to face LeMoyne. Regis will move on to play Lindenwood as well.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
   Both sides earned at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament because there are no automatic qualifiers in Division II women's lacrosse. West Chester is the top seed in the Atlantic Region and enters the NCAAs on the heels of its conference-record 22nd PSAC title that it won last weekend on this very same field. The Golden Rams are making their 14th appearance overall and 12th in the Division II Tournament. Head coach Ginny Martino has been at the helm of all 14 NCAA Tournament appearances.
   East Stroudsburg, as we said, was an at-large qualifier. The No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region defeated No. 3-seeded Mercyhurst, 12-11, Friday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That win avenged a 15-12 setback to Mercyhurst in the conference semifinals at Vonnie Gros Field one week ago. This is East Stroudsburg's second consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and Friday's win over Mercyhurst was the first NCAA Tournament victory for the program.
OLD FRIENDS RENEW ACQUAINTANCES AT VONNIE GROS
   West Chester University and East Stroudsburg University are certainly no strangers to one another. The two programs will square off for the 72nd time Saturday, but for the first time in the NCAA Tournament. The history of this rivaly belongs to West Chester without a doubt. The Golden Rams have won 68 of the previous 71 encounters, including the first 43 matchups from 1964 to 1999. However, East Stroudsburg did defeat West Chester a year ago on this field. In fact, two of the Warriors' three wins in the series, ironically, have come at West Chester. Had the Golden Rams not pulled out a 9-8 double-OT victory at ESU in 2016, the Warriors would own wins in two of the last three encounters. Therefore, a series that is tilted much in West Chester's favor has proven to show a more red & black flaver as of late.
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SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG ...
   ESU had won nine straight entering the PSAC semifinals a week ago, including a 19-14 win vs. Mercyhurst on April 21 at Whitenight Field. The Warriors had won three straight vs. the Lakers before the PSAC semifinals. The Warriors, under third-year head coach Xeni Barakos-Yoder, take a 43-11 record since 2016 into Saturday's quarterfinal-round game.
   ESU is led by three first team All-PSAC selections in senior midfielder Chessie Rahmer, freshman attack Krista Mitarotonda (PSAC Freshman of the Year) and freshman back Kayleigh Pokrivka. Junior midfielder Emma Rufolo was named second team, and sophomore midfielder Hana Cicerelle and sophomore goalkeeper Tatyana Petteway were third team All-PSAC selections. Rahmer (IWLCA All-America 3rd team, All-Region 1st team), Rufolo (PSAC Athlete of the Year, All-Region 2nd team) and Petteway (IWLCA All-America 3rd team, All-Region 1st team, PSAC Freshman of the Year) all received major postseason honors as part of ESU's record-setting 2017 season, which concluded with a 17-3 mark.
   Rahmer repeated on the All-PSAC first team, ranking second on the Warriors in goals (43), third in points (49), second in draw controls (59) and caused turnovers (34) and third in ground balls (52). She has 140 career goals, tied for fourth-most in school history - including 17 in the last four games, and 26 in the last seven games. She had four goals in both meetings with Mercyhurst this spring.
   Mitarotonda moved into second in school history in single-season goals (57) with two in the PSAC semifinal and has added eight assists for 65 points. She has scored at least three goals in 10 of her 16 games with three six-goal performances, including six goals and an assist vs. Mercyhurst in the regular season victory. She also leads ESU with 76 draw controls.
   Cicerelle is second on the Warriors with 57 points, ranking third in both goals (40) and assists (17), with six games of four-plus goals and four goals and four assists vs. Mercyhurst in the regular season. She had 26 goals and 13 assists in 20 games as a freshman, entering the NCAA Tournament with 96 career points (66 goals, 30 assists) nearing the end of her sophomore year.
   Rufolo has 30 goals, eight assists, a team-high 58 ground balls and is third in draw controls (27) and caused turnovers (26) in another impressive season. She had 34 goals and 17 assists with team-highs in all three "extra" categories during her PSAC Athlete of the Year season as a sophomore in 2017, her first at ESU after transferring from Division I Gardner-Webb.
   A pair of juniors run the low attack in Brooke Fritz (15 goals, 31 assists) and TJ Jefferis (15 goals, 27 assists), who was third team All-PSAC last year. Fritz is fourth and Jefferis sixth on ESU's single-season assists list, and they are both tied for eighth in career assists (51).
   Both have eclipsed the 100 career point mark this season - Jefferis with 126 points (75 goals) and Fritz with 108 (57 goals).
SEVEN GOLDEN RAMS NAMED ALL-LEAGUE
   West Chester University's undefeated women's lacrosse squad was well-represented when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference released its 2018 All-PSAC squad Thursday. Head coach Ginny Martino was also named the loop's coach of the year.
   West Chester landed seven on the three all-league squads. Midfielders Sami Barnett and Maggie Stella were joined on the first team by defender Molly Reinhart while attacker Tatum Altman was the lone second team pick. Attacker Tara Morrissey, midfielder Drew McKinney and defender Brenna Lynch were third team selections.
   The seven selections are the most from any school and the most from West Chester since the 2013 campaign. Meanwhile, Reinhart's first-team nod marks the first time that the Golden Rams have put a defender on the loop's first team since Siena Childs in 2015.
2018 All-PSAC - FIRST TEAM
M - Maggie Stella   first all-league selection - Jr., transfer from Robert Morris
M - Sami Barnett      third selection in three years
D - Molly Reinhart   first selection - first year as a starter
2018 All-PSAC - SECOND TEAM
A - Tatum Altman   first all-league selection
2018 All-PSAC - THIRD TEAM
A - Tara Morrissey   first all-league selection
M - Drew McKinney   freshman selection
D - Brenna Lynch   first selection - first year as a starter
MARTINO NAMED PSAC COACH OF THE YEAR
   Virginia "Ginny" Martino, in her 21st season on the Golden Rams sideline, was recognized as the PSAC coach of the year for the first time since 2005 and just the third time overall. A recognition long overdue for the all-time winningest Division II women's lacrosse coach in NCAA history, as well as one of just 13 bench bosses at any level to reach 300 wins, Martino guided her charges to an undefeated season for the first time since 2010 and into the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time overall and 12th time at the Division II level.
MARTINO WINS No. 300 (AGAINST ESU)
   Ginny Martino, in her 21st season on the Golden Rams sideline, became the charter member of the 300-win club at the Division II level earlier this season. In fact, she is one of only 13 sideline generals to rack up more than 300 wins in women's lacrosse at any level of the NCAA. She currently stands 10th all-time among all women's lacrosse coaches in career wins – ahead of Virginia's Julie Myers (310) and Florida's Amanda O'Leary (309). Her .810 winning percentage is currently among the Top 10 all-time at any level as well. Martino picked up win No. 300 at home against East Stroudsburg University on March 28 with a 14-7 victory.
