WEST CHESTER, PA – Three different players scored a pair of goals and seven different people inked their names on the scoresheet as host West Chester defeated visiting Adelphi, 10-1, in the first round of the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships at a rain-soaked Vonnie Gros Field Sunday afternoon.
With the win, West Chester (15-4) advances to the national semifinals for the eighth time in the past 11 seasons. Adelphi (13-9) concludes its season in the first round of the NCAAs for the second straight year. The Golden Rams will take on Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference rival Shippensburg in the semifinals on Thursday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. EST in Seattle, Wash.
"These kids were just so happy to still be playing," West Chester head coach
Amy Cohen said. "It was an excellent day for us. Our forwards were getting great opportunities, and everyone was finishing today."
Valerie van Kuijck (Denbosch, The Netherlands) and reserves
Caitlynn Szarko (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) and
Olivia Quagliero (Southampton, N.J./Seneca) each scored two goals in the lopsided victory. For van Kuijck her two goals gives her 18 on the year and 51 points overall, pushing her over 100 career points in just two seasons. She is only the fourth player in school history at the Division II level to reach 100 career points.
"Nobody expected us to be here, and I think a little time off helped," van Kuijck said afterwards. "We were working together out there, passing and just staying upbeat and energetic."
Claudia Jaszczak (Coatesville, Pa./Downingtown West),
Paige Wolfe (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East),
Dara Spavlik (Hockessin, Del./Conrad) and
Jasmine Miller (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) each tallied a goal on Sunday as well. Wolfe would add an assist later in the contest to finish with three points in the game.
Freshman goalkeeper
Tess Garchinsky (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) made three saves, yielding her only goal on a penalty stroke in the 24th minute. She became the first freshman keeper to earn an NCAA Tournament win since 2019, improving to 3-1 on the year in just her third start and fifth appearance overall.
West Chester outshot Adelphi by a wide 37-5 margin and held an 11-0 advantage on corners.
The Golden Rams opened up strong, despite the heavy rain that drenched Vonnie Gros Field almost the entire game. The hosts scored two goals in the first 14 minutes. Jaszczak's 15th of the season started things off while Szarko's first of the game and fourth of the year doubled the lead.
Adelphi cut that deficit in half in the second quarter on the penalty stroke. But, Miller's 12th of the season restored the two-goal edge heading into the break.
Van Kuijck and Wolfe increased the lead to 5-0 in the third quarter with goals 21 seconds apart. Then, the flood gates opened in the fourth with a five-goal effort in the final 15 minutes. Van Kuijck's 18th of the season and Spavlik's seventh of the year both came off corners 84 seconds apart. Quagliero netted her sixth and seventh of the season less than four minutes apart from one another, before Szarko finished off the scoring in the 58th minute.
Sr.,
Rory Strohm (Jenkintown, Pa./Jenkintown) finished with three assists on the day while
Adriana Palumbo (West Deptford, N.J./West Deptford) and
Morgan Becker (West Chester, Pa./East) helped out on a pair each as well.
Assumption defeated Saint Anselm, 2-1, in the other quarterfinal contest on Sunday. The Greyhounds also advance to the semifinals in Seattle and a date with the overall top seed, East Stroudsburg, on Thursday.
