No. 4 West Chester Slides By Catawba, 20-4

SALISBURY, N.C. – Fourth-ranked West Chester got four goals from Ryan McKinney (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and a pair of hat tricks from Tatum Altman (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick), Tara Morrissey (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) and Sami Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) to race past host Catawba, 20-4, in a non-league women's lacrosse match at Shuford Stadium Tuesday.
 
West Chester (2-1) controlled play throughout the contest, after scoring three goals in the first three minutes of the game. Catawba (2-3) finally got on the board six minutes into the game. However, the visitors then strung nine unanswered tallies together to stroll out to a 12-1 advantage and never be challenged again.
 
McKinney and Morrissey each potted a pair of goals to ignite the 9-0 run seven minutes into the tilt. Barnett and Alex Wendig (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) ended the rally with a pair of goals each.
 
Catawba finally ended that spurt with just under five minutes remaining before half. But, Lindsay Monigle (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen) scored on a free position with one second left before halftime. West Chester then came out and tallied the first six goals of the second half to salt away the game.
 
Barnett finished the game with five points while Maggie Stella (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) finished with four points (2G, 2A). Altman added an assist to her three-goal effort to finish with four points as well.
 
Julianne Clemens (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO) started the game in goal and played the first half. Nicole Martins (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley) played the second half and made three saves.
 
West Chester will return home on Saturday for a 1 p.m. showdown with PSAC rival Slippery Rock at Vonnie Gros Field. The Rock was receiving votes in the latest IWLCA coaches poll released yesterday.