No. 7 West Chester Uses Strong Second Half To Pull Away From Bloomsburg, 17-6

BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – Seventh-ranked West Chester scored the final nine goals of the game to pull away from a determined Bloomsburg squad and claim a 17-6 victory on the road at Steph Pettit Stadium Tuesday afternoon.
 
West Chester (12-2, 8-1 PSAC) had raced out to a 7-1 advantage midway through the first half. However, Bloomsburg (10-4, 6-3) came storming back scoring the final four goals of the half to pull within two at 7-5 by the break. The two sides traded goals to open up the second half, before the Golden Rams laid to rest any hopes by the hosts of a major upset by shutting out the Huskies over the final 25 minutes.
 
All-American, Maggie Stella (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) scored four goals and finished with five points while also securing seven draw controls. Fellow All-American, Sami Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) registered a hat trick and posted four points to go with three ground balls and four draw controls.
 
The win moves West Chester into a tie for first place with East Stroudsburg, while opening up a two-game lead on third place Bloomsburg and handing the Golden Rams the head-to-head tie-breaker with the Huskies in the process. Today's win all but seals a first-round bye for West Chester, which has the equivalent of a three-game lead in the standings on Bloomsburg with three games left in the regular season.
 
Devon Mela (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North), Tatum Altman (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) and Ryan McKinney (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown West) each potted a pair of goals.
 
Defenders Molly Reinhart (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) and Lexi Einsig (Reading, Pa./Exeter Twp.) each caused four turnovers as well.
 
Julianne Clemens (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO) registered five saves in the cage to improve to 12-2 on the year.
 
West Chester travels to Lock Haven on Saturday for the latest installment of that PSAC women's lacrosse rivalry at Charlotte Smith Field.