EAST STROUDSBURG, PA –
Keri Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) and
Hannah Stanislawczyk (Mohnton, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) powered sixth-ranked West Chester to a 19-10 victory over No. 20 Seton Hill in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional semifinal at Eiler-Martin Stadium Friday afternoon.
West Chester (17-2) advances to the regional final to take on East Stroudsburg (18-1) on Sunday at 12 p.m. at Eiler-Martin. East Stroudsburg defeated Mercyhurst, 13-3, in the other regional semifinal.
Barnett and Stanislawczyk combined for 12 of West Chester's 19 goals on the afternoon. Barnett added six draw controls, three ground balls and three caused turnovers while Stanislawczyk filled out the scoresheet with three ground balls and three draws.
The two all-region midfielders scored six goals each and finished with seven points to lead the way offensively. Barnett now has 77 tallies on the season while Stanislawczyk upper her total to 76 in the win.
The decisive run came late in the third quarter and spilled over into the fourth when West Chester scored eight of the game's next nine goals to open up a double-digit lead with five minutes remaining. Seven different Golden Rams scored during that spurt.
Lindsay Monigle (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen) finished with six points, eclipsing 100 on the season. She now has 103 points on the year and puts her name next to a couple of WCU hall of famers in Jackie Baker and Steph Kienle – who were the last two Golden Rams to reach the milestone in a single season back in 2008.
"I've never been one to think about points, or scoring records, or anything like that," Monigle said afterwards. "But, it is cool."
"(Monigle) is such a leader," West Chester head coach
Ginny Martino said. "She takes control of games back there (at the 'X'). It is so nice to have her dish out an assist, or go to goal, if we ask her do that."
The other decisive moment in the game came when Martino switched goalkeepers with 5:31 left in the first half.
Amber Weedon (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) came on in relief of starter
Jessica Gorr (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) and did a wonderful job the rest of the way.
"It's great to have two goalies back there that we can count on," Martino commented. "We really have three. All of them have done a great job this year."
"I still prepare the same way as if I was starting," Weedon said. "I noticed that Seton Hill was taking a lot of low shots. So, I was ready for those. I knew I had to be there to pick (Gorr) up, and pick up the rest of the team."
Weedon made nine saves in 35 minutes of action to improve to 5-2 on the season. Seton Hill's counterpart, Kyleigh Hessian, who came on in relief one week ago against West Chester, got the start on Friday in the cage and made 11 saves.
Sunday's regional final will be a rematch of last year's final won by East Stroudsburg on this very same field. The winner of that regional final goes to the national semifinals in St. Charles, Mo., to be played on the campus of Lindenwood University.
