West Chester Punches Ticket to National Finals, 10-8

Post-Game Press Conferences

WEST CHESTER, PA – Hannah Stanislawczyk (Mohnton, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) scored five goals, including four in the decisive second half, as No. 1 West Chester topped No. 17 East Stroudsburg, 10-8, in the Atlantic Region final at sun-splashed Vonnie Gros Field on Mother's Day.
 
West Chester (21-0) outscored East Stroudsburg (14-6) 5-3 in the second half to punch its ticket the national semifinals in Indianapolis, Ind.
 
Stanislawczyk put the team on her back in the third quarter when the Golden Rams opened up a three-goal lead – its largest lead of the game. Three straight tallies with two in the third and one more in the fourth turned a one-goal deficit into a two-goal lead (8-6) landing all the pressure squarely on the shoulders of the visitors.
 
"(Stanislawczyk) has been coming up huge for us all year long," West Chester head coach Ginny Martino said afterwards. "She put three balls in the back of the net because we needed it."
 
"If I see a lane and think that I can take it, then I go," Stanislawczyk said in the press conference afterwards. "In a critical game like this, I knew that if I was going to go to goal, I needed to be smart with my shooting."
 
Stanislawczyk's first marker of the afternoon tied the game at 3-3 in the second quarter. She also hit two pipes with shots in the first half. But, she kept shooting and that paid off in the second half.
 
"I feel like its uncommon for me to hit a lot of pipes," Stanislawcyzk said. "But, we did a good job of getting those rebounds. So, it was frustrating, but nothing that was going to stop me from taking more shots."
 
At both ends of the field, the goalkeepers were stealing the show matching each other save-for-save. ESU goalkeeper, Riley DiFiori, was credited with 18 saves in the loss while West Chester keeper, Jessica Gorr (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) stopped a career-high 15. The highlight of the match was watching the two keepers go at it with defensive units in front of them that were limiting opportunities.

"We came in with a defensive game plan, and I think we executed it perfectly," Gorr said. "We didn't have a lot of shooting-space penalties, and we forced them to take bad shots.
 
"Of course, when you see somebody raising their level of play at the other end, you want to do the same to meet that challenge. I'm glad I had the opportunity today to do that."
 
Lindsay Monigle (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen) scored twice and added an assist for West Chester. Keri Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) registered a pair of assists. Taylor O'Brien (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus), Meg O'Donnell (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) and Lila McMahon-Skates (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) also scored.
 
"We played a really strong game today," East Stroudsburg head coach Xeni Barakos-Yoder said afterwards. "We had a lot of opportunities, but we just didn't finish on our shots."
 
ESU was led offensively by Madison Bagatta's two goals, Emily Fitzpatrick's two goals and one assist, and Kiki Fitzpatrick's one goal and two assists.
 
The NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse national semifinals and championship game will be played at Key Stadium on the campus of the University of Indianapolis next Friday and Sunday. The four semifinalists will be re-seeded following the completion of the four regionals, and West Chester will then find out its opponent on Friday.