No. 7 West Chester Comes From Behind To Down No. 15 Mercy, 9-8

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Seventh-ranked West Chester scored five of the final six goals to complete a thrilling comeback and defeat No. 15 Mercy College, 9-8, in a non-conference women's lacrosse match at Vonnie Gros Field Tuesday afternoon.
 
It marked the first one-goal win of the season in three tries for West Chester (8-2) while Mercy (8-3) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end as the Mavericks fell to 1-3 in one-goal affairs on the year.
 
Trailing 7-4 with over 16 minutes left in the contest, West Chester scored a pair of goals 43 seconds apart that ignited a four-goal rally and gave the Golden Rams itheir first lead of the day at 8-7. Those tallies by Emily Schulze (Harleysville, Pa./North Penn) and Trisha Baud (West Deptford, N.J./West Deptford) were followed by markers from Sami Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro), who scored on a free position as a Mercy penalty was releasing, and Maggie Stella (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East).
 
Mercy's Hunter Isnardi notched her third goal of the game with eight minutes left to knot the score for the fourth time in the contest. However, Tatum Altman (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) got the eventual game-winner 27 seconds later, and West Chester's defense held off Mercy down the stretch.
 
West Chester goalkeeper Julianne Clemens (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO) made seven saves, including two consecutively on point-blank opportunities in the final eight minutes of the game to keep the Golden Rams even with the Mavericks. Mercy's Emma Jacobsen made eight saves in the loss.
 
Molly Reinhart (Sinking Springs, Pa./Wilson) grabbed three ground balls and caused three turnovers to lead the defensive effort from position players. Brenna Lynch (Richboro, Pa./Archbishop Wood) caused a pair of turnovers and picked up a pair of ground balls as well. They were primarily responsible for slowing down Isnardi, who entered the game leading all of Division II in goals per game (5.4) and ranked second in total goals (54).
 
Stella, in addition to her lone tally near the end of the game, won nine of West Chester's 14 draw controls on the afternoon.
 
Baud led West Chester in scoring with a hat trick off the bench. Barnett scored a pair of goals while Altman finished with a three-point night (1G, 2A). Mercy's Katherine Sanchez, who also entered Tuesday's contest with better than 50 points on the season already, registerd a hat trick and tied Isnardi for the team lead in points with four.
 
West Chester travels to Gannon University in Erie, Pa., on Saturday for a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) showdown with the Golden Knights at 11 a.m.