WEST CHESTER, PA – Despite it being listed as a non-league affair on each team's schedule, Wednesday nights' Top 5 clash between conference rivals had everything a field hockey enthusiast could ask.
No. 4 West Chester University scored a pair of second half goals en route to its second straight come-from-behind win at home – this time against No. 5 Millersville, 2-1, on a brisk evening at Vonnie Gros Field. West Chester wiped a two-goal deficit off the board last Saturday in a win over Mansfield in the conference finale at home.
"We knew this game would have a big impact on whether, or not, we made the NCAA Tournament," sophomore midfielder
Valerie van Kuijck said. "And that's where we want to be."
An animated halftime speech from head coach
Amy Cohen inspired the Golden Rams in the final 30 minutes and sparked a pair of goals 15 minutes apart that erased a 1-0 halftime deficit lifting the hosts to the win. For the second straight game, West Chester trailed heading in to halftime, and for the second straight game, the purple & gold found a way in the second half.
In the third quarter, senior forward
Claudia Jaszczak (Coatesville, Pa./Downingtown West) tipped a shot from van Kuijck past Millersville goalkeeper Kerstin Koons for her 13th goal of the season in the 33rd minute off a penalty corner to knot the game at 1-apiece. In the fourth quarter, it was another local product from Jaszczak's rival high school Downingtown East, junior forward
Paige Wolfe (Downingtown, Pa.), who chipped a shot past Koons after receiving a long pass into the circle from van Kuijck for her eighth of the year.
With the pair of assists, van Kuijck moved into second place on the list of helpers in a single season with her 14th and 15th. It was her 94th and 95th career points, landing her in fifth place all-time in the school's Division II record book.
Millersville (13-4) didn't have a shot, or a penalty corner in the second half. West Chester (14-3) took nine shots in the final 30 minutes and showed a 14-6 advantage overall for the game in that category. The win avenged a 2-1 setback to the Marauders back on Oct. 12 in Millersville, Pa.
Freshman goalkeeper,
Tess Garchinsky (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) made two saves in the first half to improve to 2-0 on the year. It was her third appearance of the season. However, it was the first starting assignment of her college career.
With the win, West Chester concludes its 2022 regular season and will be the fifth seed in the upcoming Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament next week. West Chester's opponent is still to be determined. But, the Golden Rams do know that they will be on the road for the entire tournament.
WEST CHESTER FOURTH IN FIRST REGIONAL RANKINGS
INDIANAPOLIS, IND - West Chester University was also ranked fourth in the first NCAA Atlantic Region rankings that were announced earlier in the day by the Division II Selection Committee. Kutztown (14-2), which won the PSAC regular-season title and will host the semifinals and finals, is ranked first in the region with Shippensburg (14-2) and East Stroudsburg (14-2) ranked second and third, respectively. Millersville was ranked fifth.
The top three teams from each region (Atlantic and East) will be selected for the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, which begin the weekend after Thanksgiving. The six teams will be seeded 1-6, regardless of region, and the top two seeds will receive an automatic bye to the NCAA Division II Festival and the national semifinals Dec. 2-4 in Seattle, Wash. The three-seed will host the six-seed while the four seed hosts the five seed in first round action.
West Chester will most likely face two, or possibly all three, schools ranked ahead of them in the PSAC Tournament next week adding all the more significance to the conference tournament.
