KUTZTOWN, PA – Fifth-ranked West Chester gave top-ranked Kutztown all it could handle under the lights on its home turf Tuesday, but the Golden Bears prevailed, 3-1, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) field hockey contest inside Andre Reed Stadium.
West Chester (8-4, 3-2 PSAC) entered the fourth quarter tied with Kutztown (13-0, 5-0), but the home team notched a pair of goals in the final 15 minutes to remain unbeaten on the year.
Kutztown struck first in the second quarter when Taylor Vaccaro notched her fourth goal of the year from the top of the circle.
Gianna Funari (Voorhees, N.J./Voorhees) responded nearly one minute into the second half when she made a nifty move at the top of the circle to get around a defender and penetrate inside the circle and then reverse chip a shot into the far corner to tie the game at one. That tally ended a streak of 196 scoreless minutes for Kutztown field hockey.
Jessica Traynor lifted a shot top shelf down along the goal line early on in the fourth to break the 1-1 deadlock, before teammate Ellie Myers knocked in a rebound on a penalty corner for an insurance goal with just under five minutes left in the game.
Golden Rams' goalkeeper
Audra Symborski (Furlong, Pa./Central Bucks East) made four saves in the loss. Kutztown's Tess Adolf made five stops.
Kutztown outshot West Chester by a narrow 11-10 margin and held a 12-8 advantage on penalty corners.
West Chester hits the road again on Saturday for a 1 p.m. conference tilt at Mansfield University against the Mountaineers.
