WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Looking to remain unbeaten to start the year, the fourth-ranked West Chester University women's lacrosse team (3-0) faced its stiffest test of the young season as No. 17 Bentley paid a visit to Vonnie Gros Field on a frigid Sunday afternoon. West Chester raced out to an early 5-0 lead in the first quarter and led 9-4 at the half despite a late 3-0 Bentley run to close the half and used this advantage to earn a hard-fought 14-8 victory on Sunday afternoon.
Kendall Fortune (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) led all scorers with four goals and one assist for five points. At the same time,
Sydney Wasdick (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) and
Keri Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) each scored three goals in the victory.
Hannah Cornelius (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) enjoyed what was perhaps her best game to date as a Golden Ram on Sunday afternoon, making seven saves on 15 shots on goal to help slow the 17
th-ranked Falcon offense.
Her counterpart, Ashlee Wargo, was brilliant in goal, making 23 saves to hold the potent West Chester offense under 20 goals for the first time this season.
Fortune opened the scoring quickly for West Chester, scoring two goals in the first two minutes to stake West Chester to an early 2-0 lead. Wasdick
, Grace Rosica (Dublin, Pa./Pennridge), and Barnett got in the act in the next seven minutes, giving West Chester a 5-0 lead.
Caitlin Keenan scored Bentley's first goal with 5:11 to play in the first quarter for the final tally of the opening frame.
It took nearly five minutes in the second for either side to score as
Madeline Edinger (Perkasie, Pa/.Pennridge) scored with 10:52 to play in the half, sparking a 4-0 Golden Ram run, which included another goal from her with 8:54 to play and two more from Fortune.
Maeve Johnson scored her first of three on the day with 1:39 to play until halftime and added another just over 30 seconds later as part of a 3-0 run, which saw the Falcons cut the lead to 9-4 heading into the break.
The second half was a much lower scoring affair as West Chester, led by two second half goals each from Barnett and Wasdick along with a
Piper Hammond (Tucson, Ariz./Southridge) added a goal of her own outscored Bentley by a slim 5-4 margin to roll to the 14-8 victory.
Bentyley scored two of the last three goals of the third and the first goal of the fourth, which cut the lead to 11-7 with 13 minutes to play but this was as close as the Falcons would be able to get after the Golden Rams (Barnett (1) and Wasdick (2)) scored three of the final four goals of the game.
Wasdick led West Chester in draw controls with five, while Barnett and Edinger added three each.
Kara Stewart (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spaulding) led the team in caused turnovers with five, while Barnett caused three, and
Natalie Goldsmith (Oceanport, N.J./Shore Regional) led in ground balls with five, along with four from Hammond.
West Chester ended the game with a 32-23 lead in ground balls and a 17-25 lead in turnovers, while Bentley finished the day with a narrow 14-12 lead in draw controls after holding a 9-6 lead at the half and a 12-8 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
West Chester was 21-for-25 on clear attempts, while Bentley was 18-for-23 on its clear attempts in the setback.
Up Next
West Chester will play its final non-league game of the year next Saturday against Assumption, beginning at 1 p.m. on Vonnie Gros Field.
