WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After the late-game heroics of
Emma Velez (Coatesville, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) on Wednesday evening to propel the No. 2 ranked West Chester field hockey team (8-1, 3-0 PSAC) over Millersville, the Golden Rams returned to the field on Saturday morning and cruised past Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) (6-2, 1-2 PSAC) by a final of 6-2.
Sophia Morrison (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) opened the scoring in the seventh minute following an assist from
Emily Ingalls (Zionsville, Pa./Emmaus) to give West Chester the early 1-0 lead, which the Golden Rams would carry into the second quarter. In the second quarter of play,
Valerie Van Kuijck (
Denbosch, The Netherlands, Pierson School) scored her first of three goals on the afternoon off an assist from
Caitie McNamara (Buderim, Australia/Nambour Christian College) in a scrum in front of the cage to give West Chester a 2-0 lead.
In the 22
nd minute, IUP answered back with a goal of its own to trim the West Chester lead to 2-1 approaching the halftime break. In the 35
th minute, Van Kuijck opened the second half scoring off an assist from
Paige Wolfe (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) to stretch the West Chester lead to 3-1 in the third quarter of play.
In the 49
th minute, Wolfe scored a goal of her own off an assist from
Dara Spavlik (Hockessin, Del./Conrad) following a penalty corner, which further extended the Golden Ram lead, making the score 4-1 in favor of West Chester. In the 53
rd minute, IUP answered back with a tally of its own to trim the deficit to 4-2 but West Chester would add a pair of late goals as Van Kuijck scored her third of the day off an assist from
Autumn Gager (York, Pa./Penn Manor) before Morrison added her second of day in the closing seconds of regulation thanks to an assist from
Claudia Jaszczak (Coatesville, Pa./Downingtown West) to lift West Chester to a convincing 6-2 victory
In goal,
Claire Nielsen (Wescosville, Pa./Emmaus)) played well once again making one save to slow the IUP offense throughout the afternoon.
West Chester ended the contest with a convincing 25-6 advantage in shots and an 18-5 edge in penalty corners en route to the victory.
West Chester will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon at Shippensburg with that contest set to begin at 4 p.m. as the Golden Rams look to avenge their lone blemish to this point in the 2021 season.
