WEST CHESTER, PA – Leading by as much as five goals in the second half, second-ranked West Chester was outscored 6-1 in the fourth quarter as No. 11 East Stroudsburg completed one of the unlikeliest of comebacks to shock the top seed in the region with a 13-12 victory in the Atlantic Region final of the 2024 NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Tournament on a wet and soggy Saturday at Vonnie Gros Field.
West Chester (20-1) saw its spring season come to a close with the loss while East Stroudsburg (14-6) advances to the Division II Festival in Orlando, Fla., next weekend and the national semifinals. It was Upset-Saturday across the country for Division II women's lacrosse as all four No. 1 seeds in their regions lost their regional final.
"I don't have an answer," West Chester University head coach
Ginny Martino said afterwards when asked about East Stroudsburg's comeback. "I don't know why we took our foot off the gas and stopped playing. (ESU midfielder) Emily Mitarotonda won the game for them in the fourth quarter."
The Warriors erased an 11-7 deficit entering the final 15 minutes. West Chester freshman
Kendall Fortune (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) scored with 10:50 left in the game to make it 12-9, but that was the Golden Rams' last goal of the afternoon. ESU tallied the final four goals of the game – two from Mitarotonda – to stun the home fans.
Mitarotonda finished with four goals and four assists, having a hand in eight of ESU's 13 markers on the day. She added four ground balls, six caused turnovers and three draw controls to her stat line.
"Defense wins championships, and I think we proved that today," ESU head coach Xeni Barakos-Yoder commented afterwards. "I think Emily showed that she can play at both ends of the field today. In my mind, she is the best player in the country for that reason."
West Chester built a 10-5 lead on a goal from
Julia Littlewood (Berwyn, Pa./Conestoga) with five minutes left in the third quarter, and it looked like the Golden Rams were well on their way to a repeat regional title and national semifinal appearance.
"The wheels just fell off," Martino added. "I can't explain it."
Lost in the shocking ending was West Chester senior All-America midfielder,
Hannah Stanislawczyk (Mohnton, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) broke the school's all-time scoring record with her 300th goal in a storied college career. She finishes her time at West Chester with 302 goals to her credit. He finished with team-best three goals and five points.
Classmate
Grace Frasso (Cinnaminson, N.J./Cinnaminson) finished the game with five ground balls and five caused turnovers for the Golden Rams. Littlewood and
Madeline Edinger (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) each scored a pair of goals and added an assist.
Sydney Wasdick (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) scored twice as well.
ESU goalkeeper Abby Simonetti made eight saves to backstop her team to a regional title. West Chester's
Jessica Gorr (Exton, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) made six saves.
