WEST CHESTER, PA – Graduate student,
Lindsay Monigle (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen) scored five goals and posted seven points while junior
Hannah Stanislawczyk (Mohton, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) scored five of her own to lead third-ranked West Chester to a 17-3 win over No. 23 Bentley on an emotional day at Vonnie Gros Field Saturday.
West Chester (2-0) opened its home slate Saturday with a pre-game tribute to former Golden Rams defender
Julia Rossi, who passed away suddenly last November. Former teammates Tara Morrissey, Quinn O'Malley and
Claire Dennis joined Monigle at midfield to address the crowd and speak on Rossi's behalf.
Bentley (0-1) joined West Chester at midfield for a group photo pregame with each team wearing No. 25 t-shirts. Golden Rams graduate student,
Helen Kreschollek (Bethlehem, Pa./Saucon Valley) will wear Rossi's 25 during home games. She took the opening draw with Bentley's No. 25 Caroline Affolter after a 25-second moment of silence before the game.
Once all of that was out of the way, West Chester came out firing on all cylinders and jumped in front 7-0, before Bentley could get on the scoreboard. The 7-1 advantage after the first quarter was in stark contrast to how the Golden Rams started its season opener at Shepherd on Tuesday.
"They definitely came out inspired," West Chester head coach
Ginny Martino said. "I love that kind of start. I anticipated a slow start because of the emotional roller coaster this team went through last night and today. I am so proud of them to be mentally strong to focus. Maybe they had some help from above."
Monigle scored her 100th career goal and her 200th career point in fourth quarter of the game. It was a cap on a game that meant so much to so many people.
"Going into this game, we knew it was going to be tough emotionally and mentally," Monigle added afterwards. "But, that might have fueled our fire to play as good as we could for Rossi and for everything that she stood for."
Senior goalkeeper
Jessica Gorr (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) was another big reason for West Chester's large lead after one period. She made four saves in the opening 15 minutes and finished the contest with 11 stops overall. She was nothing short of spectacular all game limiting the Falcons to just three goals – the last one on a point-blank shot with :02 left in the game.
Kreschollek finally scored in the third quarter, after hitting two posts earlier in the game, to ink No. 25 into the scoring column.
Keri Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) scored twice as well.
Brenna Smith (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Upper Arlington),
Taylor O'Brien (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus),
Lila McMahon-Skates (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) and
Alexis Smallwood (Margate City, N.J./Ocean City) rounded out the scoring for the Golden Rams.
Defensively, West Chester caused 10 turnovers and pressured Bentley all day in the clearing game. The Falcons were just 11-for-19 in clears. In all, Bentley committed 16 turnovers.
West Chester returns to Vonnie Gros next Saturday for an 11 a.m. start against Jefferson in another non-league matchup.
