WEST CHESTER, PA – Slippery Rock dominated the faceoff circle and executed its game plan to perfection to upset No. 1/2 West Chester on its home field in the Atlantic Region Final at Vonnie Gros Field a blistering Saturday afternoon.
No. 7/12 Slippery Rock (18-2) advances to its first national semifinal after handing West Chester (19-1) its first defeat of the season. It marked the fourth time in the last five years that the Golden Rams have gotten this far in the postseason tournament on its home field.
"I've heard a lot of, 'If you lose a game during the season, then you know how to handle adversity better'. I don't believe in that though," West Chester head coach
Ginny Martino said afterwards. "I think we learned a lot from every game we played this year whether it was tight, or not.
"Last time we played them, we were down by a few goals and still fought back and won. This time, things were different. I don't really know why."
The Rock held a decided 19-14 edge on draw controls with specialist Shannon von Kaenel winning draw after draw for Slippery Rock. The Rock's eight wins on the draw in the first quarter set the tone early and gave them a great deal of confidence and momentum.
"We put in a lot of work this week to come up with a different game plan," Slippery Rock head coach Taryn Burkholder said afterwards. "One goal today was to control the tempo from the start. I felt like the girls did that today."
"(Kaenel) is good," Martino commented concerning Slippery Rock's control of the faceoff circle. "She got it to (Leora Owings) every time. It hurts when you don't have the ball, and you are playing defense all the time."
The Rock scored three straight goals in a two-minute span near the end of the first quarter that opened up a 6-3 lead. West Chester's
Sydney Wasdick (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) added one for the Golden Rams to pull within a pair by the end of the first.
From there, West Chester and Slippery Rock exchanged goals early in the second, and the Golden Rams trailed 8-6. That is when sophomore attacker
Kendall Fortune (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) scored back-to-back tallies to tie the game at 8-all. Slippery Rock's Eryn Little scored with 16 seconds left in the half to put The Rock in the lead for good and send Slippery Rock into the break with a 9-8 lead.
Abby Fink scored the first two goals of the third quarter to push the lead to, 11-8.
West Chester climbed back to within one on a goal from
Keri Barnett (Glenolden, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) with 13:27 left in the contest. However, Slippery Rock rattled off four straight goals to break the game wide open at 16-11.
"The attack was scoring when they had the ball," Martino said. "So, it came down to possessions. We just couldn't win those draws."
Barnett and Fortune led the way offensively with four goals apiece. Fortune also added an assist for a five-point day. Both
Lila McMahon Skates (West Linn, Ore./West Linn) and Wasdick posted three points in the loss (1G, 2A).
Barnett's four points broke the school's single-season scoring record leaving her with 146 points on the year – three more than Steph Kienle's 142 in 2008. Her 115 goals on the year also broke the school record.
Slippery Rock was led by Grace Rotter (3G, 3A) and Isabella Buono (2G, 3A). Fink and Owings each contributed hat tricks on the day as well.
"There were opening in the middle of the field," West Chester's
Kendall DiCamillo said afterwards. "It felt like there was a disconnect, or something."
"I was so composed," Buono mentioned. "That gave me a ton of confidence wherever I went on the field."
DiCamillo scooped up seven ground balls to lead all players in that category. Though West Chester held a 22-14 advantage in that statistic, the number shrank to 36-33, if you added in the ground balls on the draw controls. West Chester just couldn't come up with the 50/50 balls off the draw. With those seven ground balls, DiCamillo finishes her college career with 217 - breaking the old school record of 212 set by Katy Crouse (2007-2010). Saturday also marked DiCamillo's 81st career game played which also tied the school record for games played by a field player.
West Chester's goalkeepers combined to make four saves on the day. Slippery Rock's 'keeper was credited with seven stops in the win.
Slippery Rock advances to the national semifinals this coming Thursday. The NCAA re-seeds the four semifinalists. Those matchups will be announced either Saturday night, or Sunday. Adelphi, UIndy, and Tampa will join Slippery Rock to determine the 2025 Division II National Champion this weekend at Kerr Stadium on the campus of Roanoke College in Salem, Va.
