PLEASANTVILLE, NY – Freshman
Marissa Herring (Landenberg, Pa./Kennett Square) scored four goals, including back-to-back tallies in the fourth quarter, to lift 11th-ranked West Chester to a 16-15 victory over No. 9 Pace on the road inside Northwell Stadium Saturday afternoon.
West Chester (3-1) earned its second one-goal victory over a Northeast-10 opponent in as many weeks handing Pace (2-1) its first loss of the year in the process. The Golden Rams also defeated Adelphi, 16-15, last Saturday during its early-season road swing through the NE-10. West Chester scored 11 goals in the second half while holding Pace to just seven.
Herring's third and fourth goals of the contest with approximately seven minutes to play in the game extended the Golden Rams' lead to 16-11. Those markers proved to be instrumental down the stretch as host Pace scored four goals in the final five minutes of the tilt to draw within one (16-15) with 43 seconds left. However,
Sydney Wasdick (Pottsgrove, Pa./Pottsgrove) secured her seventh, and perhaps most important, draw control of the game on the ensuing faceoff, and West Chester head coach
Ginny Martino used both of her remaining timeouts in the waning seconds to keep possession of the ball and run out the clock preserving the Golden Rams' upset.
West Chester erased a four-goal deficit and crawled back into the contest in the third quarter by outscoring Pace, 6-1. Again, it was Herring who sparked the rally with a goal in the final minute of the first half and another three minutes into the second half to make it an 8-6 game. The Setters' Lia Villari pushed the host's lead back to three (9-6) moments later. But, West Chester went on a six-goal run the rest of the quarter and two minutes into the fourth to take the lead for good at 12-9. Villari, who had not scored a goal all year entering the match, finished with five tallies on the afternoon for the Setters. She scored two of the team's final four goals during Pace's desperate comeback bid.
Wasdick contributed three goals and a pair of caused turnovers to her seven draw controls for the Golden Rams.
Kendall Fortune (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) finished with a hat trick and an assist for a four-point day.
Madeline Edinger (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) also scored three times, picked up five ground balls and caused a turnover.
Lila McMahon-Skates (West Linn, Ore./West Linn),
Ava Sheeran (Linwood, N.J./Mainland Regional) and
Mia Beilhart (Shillington, Pa./Gov. Mifflin) each scored a goal as well.
Pace's leading scorer entering the game, Maddie Schubert, scored three times in the first half. But, West Chester clamped down defensively on the high-scoring midfielder in the second half, yielding just one goal on a free-position in the fourth quarter. Annie Sheehan added five assists for the Setters as well.
Morgan Koons (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood) made 10 saves in goal for West Chester to pick up her third win of the season while reaching double figures in saves for the second time this year. Pace's keeper, Elsa Branco made eight saves in the loss.
West Chester continues its road challenge versus the Northeast-10 next week with contests at Bentley (Mar. 12) and at Assumption (Mar. 14) during Spring Break Week at the school.
