ROCHESTER, NY – Sophomore
Madeline Edinger (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) took an outlet pass from
Hannah Stanislawczyk (Mohnton, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) and raced to the other end of the field and buried the game-winner midway through the first overtime period as No. 2 West Chester ran away with an 8-7 victory over host Roberts Wesleyan in a non-league women's lacrosse match Wednesday afternoon in Western New York.
West Chester (5-0) picked up its first overtime win since 2019, after losing four of its last five overtime contest dating back to that 2019 campaign. Roberts Wesleyan (3-5), who was receiving votes in the latest IWLCA coaches poll, was aiming for the upset. All five of the Red Hawks' losses this year have come to teams nationally ranked 16th or higher.
A first half that was played mostly in a snowstorm made things difficult on both sides. West Chester did not score a goal in the first quarter for the first time all year and the first time since last season's national championship game against Pace.
Meg O'Donnell (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) and
Jess Harrison (Fort Collins, Colo./Poudre) led the Golden Rams with two goals apiece. Edinger added six ground balls and a pair of caused turnovers to her game-winning heroics.
The Golden Rams had to fight back from a three-goal deficit in the second quarter to eventually level the score at 3-3, after Roberts Wesleyan had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of play. The Golden Rams answered that with four tallies in the second quarter without yielding a goal. West Chester did a much better job on draw controls in the second to win possessions and tie the game with five minutes to go before halftime.
A free-position goal by Stanislawczyk in the final minute of the half completed the comeback and gave West Chester its first lead of the game at 4-3.
Roberts Wesleyan broke a 27-minute scoreless drought with the first marker of the second half eight minutes into the third quarter. However, West Chester answered right back with a tally from O'Donnell to restore the Golden Rams' one-goal advantage at 5-4. O'Donnell finished off a 2-on-1 in an unsettled situation with 2:16 left in the third to hand the purple & gold it's largest lead of the contest to date at 6-4.
West Chester held a 7-5 advantage in the fourth quarter until the hosts strung together a pair of goals to even things up and send the game into overtime.
Jessica Gorr (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) made 11 saves in the contest while her counterpart Shawna Lesmerises made eight.
West Chester returns to action on Saturday at home when it opens PSAC play against Shippensburg at 1 p.m. at Vonnie Gros Field.
