WEST CHESTER, PA – Third-ranked West Chester's six-goal outburst in the final 15 minutes put the finishing touches on a 14-8 non-conference women's lacrosse victory over No. 17 Mercy Saturday afternoon at Vonnie Gros Field.
West Chester (2-0) rattled off five straight tallies at the beginning of the fourth that opened up an otherwise very tightly contested match between two of the top teams in the country. The Golden Rams turned an 8-6 edge into an insurmountable 13-6 advantage over Mercy (0-1) with that decisive run.
Senior
Hannah Stanislawczyk (Mohnton, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) led the team with four goals and one assist for her second consecutive five-point game. Graduate student
Jess Harrison (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) registered her second straight hat trick as well.
Julia Littlewood (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) finished with a pair of goals and an assist for three points while
Madeline Edinger (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) posted a pair of goals.
The two sides traded tallies until the final three minutes of the first half when Stanislawczyk struck twice to give the hosts a 6-4 lead heading into the break.
Piper Hammond (Tucson, Ariz./Southridge) scored the only goal in the first quarter – largely because West Chester goalkeeper,
Jessica Gorr (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) was unbelievable in making six saves, including three point-blank stops that kept the visitors off the scoreboard. Gorr finished the game with nine saves.
Again, the two sides went back-and-forth trading goals in the third quarter as West Chester clung to that slim two-goal lead entering the final quarter.
Mercy's Leena Moussa led the Mavericks, who were picked to win the East Coast Conference (ECC), with a five-point day (3G, 2A). Kelly Rosenfeld and Andi Mott each had a goal and an assist. Maegan Callow registered a pair of assists. Olivia Maute started the game and made three saves in the first half. Olivia LaMonica played the second half and registered five saves.
West Chester returns to action on on March 7 when the Golden Rams head to Bentley for their first road contest of the season.
