ERIE, Pa.- Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) scored the eventual game-winner just over six minutes in and added an assist minutes later to help lead No.2 West Chester (18-0-1) past Mercyhurst (10-6-4) by a final of 3-0 in the PSAC Semifinals inside McConnell Family Stadium on Friday afternoon.
With this victory, West Chester advances to the PSAC Championship match for the first time since the 2017 season and the Golden Rams will be looking for its first PSAC Tournament Championship since the 2010 season when the Golden Rams officially tied with California (Pa.) before defeating the Vulcans by a final of 4-3 in PKs.
West Chester dominated possession from the start of the match, racing out to an early 2-0 lead over the Lakers in the first 10 minutes of action, before adding another goal late, eventually outshooting its opponents by an 18-9 margin (9-4 shots on goal) en route to the 3-0 triumph.
This victory also gives West Chester its first neutral-site win of the year in its first neutral site game of the season, a scenario which the Golden Rams will need to continue to play well in through the remainder of the season as the NCAA Tournament kicks off next weekend.
West Chester wasted little time in applying early pressure to the Laker defense, getting a great scoring opportunity off back-to-back corner kicks just over two minutes into the contest but Maddie Elbro and the Laker defense were up to the task keeping the game scoreless.
West Chester did not stay silent offensively for long as
Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) found her way onto the end of a
Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) pass, which nearly resulted in a goal for West Chester before she was taken down by the final Mercyhurst defender, leading to a PK. Elbro stood tall and stopped the initial PK attempt but quickly buried the rebound to give West Chester a 1-0 lead in the seventh minute.
Just two minutes later, Cutter picked up her third point of the afternoon on a perfect centering pass, which went directly the foot of First Team selection
Jacqueline Hug (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) who buried it past an outstretched Elbro to give the Golden Rams a commanding 2-0 lead.
West Chester continued to pressure the Mercyhurst defense, but the Lakers stiffened slightly to keep the West Chester lead at 2-0 heading into the halftime break.
At the half, West Chester held a commanding 10-4 lead in shots and a 8-2 lead in shots on goal while also out-cornering the Lakers by a 6-3 margin through the first 45 minutes of action.
Just over two minutes into the second half, Mercyhurst got perhaps its best chance of the match to that point when a high press nearly paid off, giving the Lakers the ball just outside the box and leading to a quick shot, which skittered just wide to give West Chester back possession and keep the game scoreless.
In the 54
th minute, West Chester generated another great scoring chance following a corner but the Mercyhurst defense managed to clear the ball away from danger after pressure from the Golden Rams.
With just under 30 minutes to play, West Chester nearly got its third goal of the contest when Haughey drove a heavy shot from the top of the box off a pass to the middle from
Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) but Mercyhurst was able to deflect it away and force a corner kick, which eventually led to a goal kick for the Lakers.
In the 68
th minute, Mercyhurst threatened once again but
Hayley McGee (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) handled it easily, making her third save of the match to keep the Lakers scoreless.
Mercyhurst had a late open shot from the corner of the box with just over four minutes to play but the chance went just high as the Lakers searched for a goal to avoid a shutout. With just 90 seconds left in regulation, First Team All-Conference selection Lauren Van Horn nearly had a chance to get the Lakers on the board but the Golden Ram defense was equal to the task as the game remained locked at 2-0.
Just seconds later, West Chester mounted a strong counter attack off a goal kick, and used some precision passing between
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) and
Kelli Collins (Lawrenceville, N.J./Pennington) to center a ball perfectly for
Lauren Corless (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) who did not let the chance pass her by, burying a shot into the upper right corner of the goal to give the Golden Rams a 3-0 lead late in the contest.
In addition to its advantage in shots, West Chester also ended the match with a 9-3 lead in corners. Recently crowned PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year,
Hayley McGee showed why she earned this honor, ending her afternoon with four big saves while her counterpart made six saves of her own in an attempt to slow the Golden Ram offense.
Up Next:
With this victory, West Chester will make its first PSAC Championship match appearance since 2017 on Sunday afternoon vs the winner of the Bloomsburg/Gannon match, which is scheduled to be played later this afternoon.
In the 2017 Championship match, West Chester hosted East Stroudsburg on Rockwell Field and fell to the Warriors by a 1-0 final while the Golden Rams last PSAC Tournament Championship. West Chester has made five PSAC Championship game appearances in Coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley's tenure at the helm with the last PSAC Championship coming at the end of the 2010 season when West Chester defeated Cal in PKs by a final of 4-3.
