West Chester Outlasts Queens (NC), 10-9, To Advance To National Championship Game

Semifinal Replay
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ALLENDALE, Mich. – So., goalkeeper Julianne Clemens (Springfield, Pa./Springfield-DELCO) made two saves in the final minute of the game, the first on a free position, as No. 5 West Chester held on to defeat 10th-ranked Queens (N.C.), 10-9, in the NCAA Division II Semifinals at Grand Valley State University Friday afternoon.
 
West Chester (20-2) advances to the national championship game for the 10th time in school history, all under head coach Ginny Martino, and will face Adelphi (N.Y.) University on Sunday at noon at GVSU Lacrosse Stadium. Queens ends its season at 19-3.
 
Clemens stopped a low shot attempt off a free position with about one minute left in the contest. However, West Chester turned the ball over, and Queens had another opportunity with about 30 seconds left. Clemens was tall to the task again, and the Golden Rams ran out the final half minute to advance.
 
"Fabulous game," Martino said. "I thought we did a great job of not giving in to what (Queens) was trying to do. We started out strong, but (Queens) battled back. I had the confidence that we would pull it out."
 
West Chester raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the contest. However, Queens fought back to draw within one late in the first half, 5-4. That is when a fortunate bounce went the Golden Rams' way, and West Chester took a two-goal lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
Senior Emily Schulze's shot with three seconds left hit Queen's goalkeeper and bounced up into the air. The goalie could not find the ball, though, and it came down behind her and just rolled over the goal line to make it 6-4 at half.
 
"That was really big. That was huge for us," Martino said. "The ball literally rolling our way was a big momentum swing and a goal for us."
 
A change in tempo was needed midway through the game when Queens seemed to be rallying, eventually tying the score at 7-apiece. That is when West Chester went on a three-goal run that proved to be just enough. The Golden Rams had to make adjustments.
 
"We had to go from being individual and slowing the ball down to moving the ball around the eight quicker," senior attacker Tara Morrissey said. "It was more team-based, as opposed to iso plays, which is what we mostly did in the first half."
 
Morrissey assisted on West Chester's final two tallies, finding Maggie Stella (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) and Devon Mela (Newtown, Pa./Council Rock North), who scored the eventual game-winner.
 
After that, it was a frantic final two minutes to the end of the game.
 
"The last two minutes were very long for our defense," senior defender Cate Zuccarello (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) said. "We knew somebody was going to come up big for us in that last two minutes. We came together and gave it our all because we knew it could be the last two minutes of the season."
 
Sami Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) and Tatum Altman (North Brunswick, N.J./North Brunswick) each scored two goals and assisted on one. Tara Morrissey (Downingtown, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) scored a goal and posted a pair of assists as well for three points on the day. Clemens made 10 saves, none bigger than the two at the end of the game, to earn the first star of the game from the statistician's crew.
 
Sunday's championship game will be streamed live on NCAA.com.