WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) scored her first goal of the season, which went as the game-winner and assisted on the Golden Rams third goal to help lead the No. 19 West Chester University women's soccer team (2-0-0, 1-0-0) to a convincing 3-0 victory over Shippensburg (0-3-0, 0-1-0) to open PSAC East play.
With this victory, West Chester continued its unbeaten streak to open PSAC East play, stretching it to 14 years in a row dating back to a 2009 loss vs Bloomsburg. Head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley also moved ever closer to the remarkable 400-win milestone, now sitting just one shy of number 400 for her career, which the Golden Rams will play for on Saturday at East Stroudsburg.
West Chester applied early pressure out of the gates, but Shippensburg had the majority of the chances early, getting off a pair of good shots and two corners along with a bevy of deep throws through the first 10 minutes to apply heavy pressure to the West Chester defense.
After withstanding the early rush, Haughey gave West Chester a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute with a beautiful free kick from 10 yards outside the box.
West Chester doubled its lead three minutes later when
Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) came up from the back and used a great assist from
Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) and
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) to stretch the lead to 2-0.
Shippensburg continued to press in the final 15 minutes of the first half, nearly getting its first goal of the year in the 38th minute when Hannah Menicheschi took a shot from distance. Still, Grace
Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) was able to get a hand on it and punch it high off the bottom of the crossbar to survive the chance. The Raiders nearly scored on the rebound, but the West Chester defense crashed hard, making it hard for the visitors to get much on the shot, which allowed Keen to jump on it quickly and end the threat.
Despite the two-goal advantage on the scoreboard, West Chester held a slim 9-6 lead in shots and trailed in both shots on goal (4-3) and corners (4-2) through the first 45 minutes of play.
Matter nearly extended the lead out of halftime as
Brielle Zink (Islip, N.Y./Islip) headed one forward and into space for the junior, but her chance skittered just wide to keep the lead at two early in the second half.
In the 59th, West Chester stretched its lead to 3-0 as Haughey sent a beautiful ball down the sideline to Matter, who sent a cross across the box to a cutting
Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) to give the Golden Rams a 3-0 advantage with 30 minutes to play.
West Chester threatened to extend its advantage to four or potentially five goals down the stretch, but a pair of shots from
Mia Amen (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) and
Adriana Ryder (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert hit the post to keep the lead at 3-0.
After allowing Shippensburg a handful of good chances in the first half, West Chester stiffened defensively in the second half, holding the Raiders without a shot after the halftime break.
West Chester ended the game with a 24-6 lead in shots (8-4 in shots on goal) and a 5-4 lead in corners after controlling the play throughout the second half.
Keen played well in goal, making four saves, all of which came in the first half, while her counterpart Kirstin Brown made three, and Hannah Cline made a pair after entering in relief of the injured Brown for the last 15 minutes of the match.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon at East Stroudsburg at 1:30 p.m. as Kempf Townsley looks for win no. 400 against the Warriors
