No. 4 West Chester Overcomes Slow Start to Topple No. 24 Mercyhurst, 18-11

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – West Chester spotted visiting Mercyhurst a two-goal advantage, but managed to settle down and control the pace for much of the game en route to an 18-11 victory in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) women's lacrosse match at sun-splashed, but windy, Vonnie Gros Field Saturday afternoon.
 
West Chester (7-2, 4-1 PSAC) rebounded from its mid-week loss at East Stroudsburg. However, it looked at first like Mercyhurst (4-5, 1-3) may make things difficult.
 
The Lakers scored the game's first two tallies to take a 2-0 lead, before West Chester head coach Ginny Martino, called timeout to rally the troops. Three minutes after that TO, the Golden Rams held a 3-2 lead as Tatum Altman (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick), Tara Morrissey (West Chester, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) and Sami Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) got coach's message loud and clear.
 
Mercyhurst got the next marker to tie the game. However, West Chester went on another three-goal spurt and never trailed or was tied again. Emily Schulze (Harleysville, Pa./North Penn), Ryan McKinney (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) and Barnett scored in succession to put the hosts up, 6-3.
 
When Mercyhurst broke that run, the McKinney sisters (Ryan and Drew) crafted another three-goal run all by themselves to give the home team a 9-4 advantage. The Lakers tallied again with 5:36 to play in the half. But, Maggie Stella (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) restored the five-goal lead with two minutes to play, and the Golden Rams went into the locker room with a 10-5 edge.
 
Morrissey, Altman and Ryan McKinney opened up the second half with consecutive goals, ballooning the margin to 13-5.
 
Morrissey and Altman led the squad with five points each. The McKinney household accounted for seven goals and eight points on the afternoon as well. Ryan scored four times, after being held without a point at East Stroudsburg, while younger sister, Drew, registered a hat trick and an assist. Drew found her older sibling wide open in front of the cage at the 19:26 mark of the second half for her lone helper on the day.
 
Julianne Clemens (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO) made six saves in the cage to improve to 7-2 on the year. Mercyhurst's Kaitlyn Lippert (0-1) made seven saves in her first start of the year.
 
West Chester hosts Mercy College on Tuesday at 4 p.m. in a non-conference tilt at Vonnie Gros Field.