West Chester Visits Millersville Wednesday Night

WEST CHESTER vs MILLERSVILLE
Game Details: October 29 I 6 P.M.
Location: Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium 
Series All Time: WCU, 20-11
Video Stream Link: HERE
Live Stats:HERE

WEST CHESTER, PA – West Chester University's women's field hockey hits the road for a non-conference showdown with Millersville University under the lights of Biemesderfer Stadium Wednesday evening.
 
The Golden Rams (11-4) bring a three-game winning streak into the contest and have won four of their last five overall. The Marauders (7-9) are looking to break a four-game losing streak in its final home game of the 2025 season. West Chester and Millersville book-end the month of October with one another – having opened the 10th-month of the calendar year on Oct. 1 and are now closing the ledger on it on Oct. 29.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Veerle Hersman scored on a penalty stroke in the 12th minute, and visiting West Chester's lock-down defensive unit made it hold up as the Golden Rams came away with a 1-0 victory over host Slippery Rock Saturday afternoon at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
West Chester (11-4, 6-2 PSAC) kept pace in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and remains in a tie for second place with its win over Slippery Rock (5-10, 1-7).
 
The  Golden Rams allowed just five shots on goal and four penalty corners in the game, limiting The Rock to very few opportunities within the flow of the game.
 
Goalkeeper Audra Symborski made four saves in the game to earn her second straight shutout. She runs her consecutive scoreless streak to over 128 minutes in the process.
 
Hersman's goal was her team-leading 15th of the season.
 
VEERLE'S WEEKLY AWARD
West Chester University sophomore midfielder, Veerle Hersman was named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) athlete of the week it was announced by that organization Tuesday afternoon.
 
Hersman scored all three goals that West Chester scored in its two wins last week. She scored twice in a 2-0 win over No. 5 Bloomsburg that was a pivotal game with both PSAC and NCAA Tournament implications. She then scored the only goal of the game on a penalty stroke at Slippery Rock in a 1-0 win last Saturday. She picked up a pair of game-winning goals on the week, giving her five for the season.  

SCOUTING THE GOLDEN RAMS
The Golden Rams are 7-3 in their last 10 games and have two contests left in the regular season, including Wednesday's affair at Millersville. West Chester has allowed just 12 shots on goal in its last three game – all wins – as the purple & gold are playing some of its best field hockey down the stretch. The old adage says, "Defenses win championships" and head coach Amy Cohen is putting that cliché to the test.
 
Offensively, Veerle Hersman leads the team and ranks among the leaders in all of Division II in goals scored with 15. She also leads the team in scoring with 33 points. Erin O'Donnell has six goals on the year while Nina Scott and Caitlynn Szarko each have five goals on the season.

SCOUTING MILLERSVILLE
Millersville, which has lost its last four contests, has not scored a goal since Oct. 11. The Marauders are 5-4 at home, however, and are looking to settle a score with the Golden Rams on Wednesday. Alex Kern registered a hat trick, and Emma Ruley had three assists the last time these two sides met on Oct. 1.

THE WEST CHESTER-IUP SERIES
West Chester holds the all-time series at 19-3. The schools split their two encounters a year ago with each winning at home. IUP has won two of the last three meetings with West Chester.
 
THE PSAC TOURNAMENT FIELD
The field for the 2025 PSAC Tournament will be set on Saturday night following the Shippensburg-Kutztown season finale. Based on win-loss record in mandated conference play, the top six teams shall qualify for the PSAC Tournament. The top two seeds receive a first-round bye and a trip to the conference semifinals. The rest of the field will play a quarterfinal-round game on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Those games feature No. 3 hosting No. 6, and No. 4 hosting No. 5. The winners advance to the semifinals and join the top two seeds.
 
The PSAC Tournament is a cashless event at all venues. Prices of tickets will be decided at a later date. All sales will be final. No refunds.

THE ATLANTIC REGIONAL RANKINGS
The second week of the NCAA regional rankings will be released Wednesday afternoon. West Chester University was listed among the seven schools in consideration for the rankings. Wednesday's list will be the first to rank the teams with the top six in position to be selected for the NCAA Tournament.

The Division II Field Hockey Championship provides for an eight-team, single-elimination tournament. The Division II Field Hockey Committee will select the five teams in the Atlantic region and three teams in the East region and seed them one through eight, regardless of region. First-round games will be Saturday, Nov. 15, semifinals will be Friday, Nov. 21 and the championship final will be Sunday, Nov. 23.
 
UP NEXT
The Golden Rams will host IUP on Saturday in the regular-season finale of the 2025 campaign. That contest is a 4:00 p.m. start time at Vonnie Gros Field.