WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Keri Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) scored five goals as one of 10 different Golden Rams to score as the No. 3/4 West Chester University women's lacrosse team (6-0, 2-0) overcame a sluggish start to post a dominant 22-7 victory over Shippensburg (5-2, 0-2) on Sunday afternoon.
Kendall Fortune (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) and
Sydney Wasdick (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) both scored four goals in the victory, while
Lila McMahon Skates (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) chipped in three goals of her own in the victory.
Shippensburg jumped out to a 2-0 lead before West Chester ended the first quarter on a 4-0 run, which sparked a 10-0 Golden Ram run as West Chester held a 10-2 lead with 4:53 to play.
Shippensburg scored three of the next four goals to cut the lead to 11-5 with 1:22 to play in the half, but West Chester scored the final two goals of the half as Fortune and Barnett tallied goals with 17 and six seconds to play to give the Golden Rams a 13-5 lead.
Fortune and Wasdick led West Chester in scoring in the first half with three goals each, while
Morgan Koons (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood), who was making her first career start, made a pair of saves. Koons ended the game with five saves as she played a strong second half, allowing just two late goals while making three stops for her second win in as many games.
Five different Raiders accounted for the five goals for Shippensburg in the first half, and Kayla Vosburg was brilliant in goal, making 12 saves to frustrate the Golden Ram offense, especially in the early stages of the first quarter.
Shippensburg accomplished something few other teams have done this year, holding the potent Golden Ram offense scoreless for seven minutes until
Piper Hammond (Tucson, Ariz./Southridge) cut the deficit in half to make it 2-1. West Chester did not find its equalizer until just over three minutes later when McMahon Skates scored her first of three on the day off an assist from Barnett as part of the 10-0 run.
Led by three third-quarter goals by Barnett, West Chester outscored its guests 6-0 in the third to take a commanding 19-5 lead into the fourth quarter.
Fortune opened the fourth-quarter scoring with her fourth goal of the game on a free position to stretch the lead to 20-5. West Chester extended its lead to 22-5 after goals by
Morgan McClintock (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) and
Madeline Edinger (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) with just over nine minutes to play in the game.
Edinger's fast break tally off an outlet pass from
Olivia Burkentine (Milton, Del./Cape Henlopen) after she forced a Shippensburg turnover was the Golden Rams final goal of the 15-goal victory.
Shippensburg scored two goals in the final four minutes, but they were inconsequential in a dominant 22-7 victory.
West Chester ended the game with a 45-15 lead in shots and a 35-12 lead in shots on goal, while also finishing the contest with a 17-15 lead in draw controls and a 24-14 lead in ground balls. The Golden Rams were just 3-for-10 on free positions as the majority of their goals came during the run of play on Sunday afternoon.
Wasdick led West Chester in draw controls with nine while Hammond scooped a team-best four ground balls, tying with Koons for the team lead in GBs. McClintock was credited with a team-best two caused turnovers in the victory.
The Golden Rams were also a perfect 19-for-19 on clear attempts, while Shippensburg was 14-of-19 on its clear attempts.
West Chester held Sara Vosburg, one of the top scorers in the PSAC, in check throughout most of the afternoon, limiting the dangerous attacker to one goal and two assists, while Shannon Wood and Olivia Glinski tied for the team lead in goals with two each.
Kayla Vosburg played 50 of the 60 minutes in goal and made 12 saves in the loss. Emily Huber entered in relief and made an outstanding save on a breakaway at point-blank range while allowing just one goal in the final 10 minutes of play.
Up Next
West Chester will be back in action next Wednesday against Millersville beginning at 4 p.m. before wrapping up its homestand vs Kutztown on Wednesday the 26
th at 4 p.m.
