WEST CHESTER, PA – As has been customary over the last few years, West Chester's nationally ranked field hockey squad will hit the road this Labor Day Weekend to open the 2023 slate with three games in four days in the Boston, Mass., area against Northeast-10 powers Assumption, Saint Anselm's and Bentley.
Last year, the Boston schools visited the Delaware Valley. So, this time around, West Chester will reciprocate that with a trip North. Assumption is the first team up on Friday at 6 p.m. in Worcester, Mass. A trip to Manchester, N.H., on Sunday at 1 p.m. for a non-league tilt against Saint Anselm follows with the third and final match set for Labor Day at 1 p.m. against Bentley.
West Chester is coming off a 15-5 campaign a year ago that saw the Golden Rams advance all the way to the national semifinals and the DII Festival in Seattle, Wash. Two losses to eventual national champion East Stroudsburg, two more losses to the team ESU beat in the finals, Shippensburg, and one setback to Millersville were the only blemishes on the Golden Rams' record. A year ago, West Chester opened its campaign with a 10-1 victory over Assumption and a 5-1 win against Bentley – both games at Vonnie Gros Field.
The Golden Rams are 3-0 all-time against Assumption adding a pair of wins during the 2021 season to its history with the Greyhounds. West Chester started that season with a 2-1 overtime victory over Assumption and tacked on a 3-0 victory in the national semifinals that November. The Golden Rams are 1-1 all-time against Saint Anselm with a 3-2 setback during the 2016 slate and a 2-1 win in the national semifinals en route to the program's third national championship at the DII level in 2019. The Purple & Gold are a perfect 5-0 against Bentley all-time with weekend-opening wins over the Falcons in 2011, 2014, 2018 and the last two seasons, respectively.
So what's new for the Golden Rams in 2023, and what's in store for their opponents?
Well, both goalkeepers are new to the West Chester roster and both are transfers from the portal.
Alina Buerger (Koenigs Wusterhausen, Brandenburg, Germany) should be familiar to this weekend's opponents. She was a Northeast-10 all-conference pick a year ago for the Pace Setters. She posted a 1.43 goals-against average and helped Pace reach the NE-10 Championship Game. Also fighting for playing time will be Delaware transfer
Emerie Loftis (Glen Allen, Va./Trinity Esiscopal). She was a reserve for the Blue Hens' Division I program each of her first two years in college. The competition in the preseason has head coach
Amy Cohen contemplating a platoon situation.
On defense in front of the new keepers will be some familiar faces for Golden Rams fans. So.,
Elle Shockley (Delmar, Del./Delmar) returns to her starting position. Classmate
Gianna Jaszczak (Coatesville, Pa./Downingtown West) should hold down one of the other two spots in the back. The third spot, held by
Dara Spavlik who is now on the sideline next to Cohen as her top assistant, belongs to returner
Morgan Becker (West Chester, Pa./Rustin). That trio is an experienced group who should take some of the pressure off the new goalkeepers.
Junior
Mackenzie Reese (Center Valley, Pa./Southern Lehigh) and sophomore
Haydan Parker (Harrington, Del./Lake Forest) will push for time in the back as well.
So.,
Caitlynn Szarko (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) and senior All-American,
Paige Wolfe (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East) anchor the midfield. Szarko scored five times last fall while Wolfe is the team's third returning leading scorer with nine tallies from a year ago.
Adriana Palumbo (West Deptford, N.J./West Deptford) and freshman
Gianna Funari (Vorhees, N.J./Bishop Eustace) will patrol the wings in the midfield.
Allison Patel (Mickelton, N.J./Kingsway Regional) has also impressed during fall camp and will vie for playing time in the midfield.
Juniors
Olivia Quagliero (South Hampton, N.J./Seneca) and
Millie Gallagher (Birmingham, England) will be the first off the bench in the midfield, or quite possibly at forward. Both can play either position and provide a great deal of experience and depth. Quagliero finished 2022 with eight goals and 17 points in 17 appearances. James Madison transfer
Erin O'Donnell (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) is another candidate in the midfield to see significant time.
Up front, All-American
Claudia Jaszczak (Coatesville, Pa./Downingtown West) is back. Her 15 goals and 33 points from last fall makes her the team's leading returning scorer.
Cameron Smith (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) posted eight points in 20 appearances, which included eight starts in 2022. All-PSAC forward
Jasmine Miller (Millersville, Pa./Penn Manor) brings back 12 goals and 26 points.
Freshman
Laura Rodgers (Delmar, Del./Delmar) is a versatile athlete who could help out at both forward, or in the back, and
Bella Aulisio (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks West) is another forward with a year in the program.
Picked fourth in the devastatingly competitive Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) preseason coaches poll, West Chester will have to battle both participants in last year's national title game as well as nationally ranked foes Kutztown and Millersville. It's a gauntlet for which no coach can fully prepare her charges. However, Cohen believes this group has been tested in the past by those familiar opponents and will come out the other side in November with a postseason bid.
