SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- The No. 2 West Chester field hockey team (15-4) continued its stay in Shippensburg on Sunday afternoon with a battle against No. 1 Shippensburg (18-0) in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). West Chester opened the scoring at the end of the first quarter, but a three-goal second quarter effort from Shippensburg lifted the Raiders to a 3-1 PSAC Championship victory.
In the first quarter, Shippensburg applied heavy early pressure but the Golden Ram defense was able to slow the Shippensburg offense and keep the Raiders from getting good opportunities through the opening 15 minutes. In the closing seconds of the opening quarter, West Chester opened the scoring as
Olivia Quagliero (Southampton, N.J./Seneca) tipped home a shot from the center from
Cameron Smith (Lewes, Del./Cape Henelopen) to give the Purple and Gold a slim 1-0 lead heading into the second quarter.
Shippensburg did not trail for long as the Raiders answered with a goal of its own when Merel Hoekstra used an assist from Jazmin Petrantonio to even the score at 1-1 in the 22
nd minute. Shippensburg added another goal just over a minute later as Petrantonio buried a reverse shot from the top of the circle to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead. Shippensburg extended its lead in the waning moments of the first half when Valu Paul took an assist from Adrienne McGarrigle to take a 3-1 lead into the halftime break.
In the first half, Shippensburg outshot West Chester by a 13-10 margin but both West Chester goalkeeper
Claire Nielsen (Wescosville, Pa./Emmaus) and Shippensburg keeper Lindsay Tripodo were tough between the pipes, making eight saves (one shy of Nielsen's career-high nine saves vs Shippensburg earlier this season) and seven saves, respectively through the opening 30 minutes of action.
To open the third quarter, West Chester applied early pressure but Tripodo and the Shippensburg defense made the plays necessary to preserve its 3-1 lead heading into the midway point of the third period. After holding the West Chester attack, Shippenbusrg began applying heavy pressure to the West Chester defense once again but Nielsen stood tall making three big saves to keep the score locked at 3-1. These three saves also increased Nielsen's save total to 11 on the match, which set an early career-high for the junior goalkeeper.
In the fourth quarter, West Chester worked to make a comeback as the Golden Rams were credited with the first shot of the period as
Paige Wolfe (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) had a shot from the top of the circle blocked in the 51
st minute of action. In the 53
rd minute, Shippensburg got its second corner of the fourth period as the Raiders tried to extend their lead but
Caitie McNamara (Buderim, Australia/Nambour Christian College) swept the ball out of the circle to end the scoring threat. Shippensburg withstood a late West Chester rush en route to the 3-1 Championship victory.
Shippensburg ended the game with a 22-17 advantage in shots and a 16-9 edge in shots on goal. West Chester ended the contest with a narrow 6-5 edge in corners after being out cornered by a 3-2 margin in the second half. Nielsen ended her day with 12 saves while McNamara added one defensive save to help slow the Shippensburg offense. In goal for Shippensburg, Tripodo had an impressive performance as well, making eight saves to slow the potent West Chester offense.
Quagliero's tally was her fourth of the season while Smith registered her sixth point of the year earning the assist on Quagliero's goal.
West Chester will now await its fate in the NCAA Tournament as the Division II Selection show is scheduled to air on Monday, November 8th at 3 p.m.
