The Division I West Chester University field hockey team hosted an annual fundraiser tournament this past weekend, bringing with it the likes of the University of North Carolina (last year’s national champion), Penn State (last year’s national runner up), and Appalachian State University, whom the Golden Rams took on in their Saturday afternoon game. The girls went into the game heavily favored over the visiting Mountaineers, and gained an early lead only nine minutes in. Brittany Cislak took a rebound off a penalty shot, knocking it out of the air to get West Chester on the board. Desiree Walker and Bethany Wong assisted on the goal.
The Rams held that lead until Appalachian State managed to get it by Zorefoss 28 minutes in. West Chester went into the half tied 1-1.
The Golden Rams came out storming the field though, as Alex Swayze came unassisted and got around the goalie for the go ahead score just one minute into the second half.
Twenty minutes later, Cislak dribbled down the field and scored unassisted herself, putting it through the keeper’s legs to add some insurance to their lead.
The Mountaineers made one last stab at salvaging the game with a score with only 12 minutes left in the game, but it was not enough, as Zorefoss held ASU scoreless the rest of the game, giving WCU their second victory of the season, 3-2.
The team admits it wasn’t their best performance on the field Saturday.
“It was a good win for us. It wasn’t pretty, but we’re a young team, and we’ll take every win we can get,” stated Coach Kathy Krannebitter on the win.
“The first half was rough, but we were able to prevail in the second [half],” added the keeper, Zorefoss, after her four save performance, holding the Mountaineers to only two goals.
“It wasn’t our best game, but we’ve proven that we can step it up when the going gets tough,” said Junior Amanda Wynkoop.
The win was a great boost of encouragement to the young squad, especially going into their matchup Sunday against the defending National champs UNC. West Chester took on the Tar Heels last season in this tournament, falling 9-0. They looked just as tough Saturday too, as they rolled over talented Penn State in dominating fashion, easily cruising to a 4-0 victory in the rematch of last year’s championship match.
Wong stated her thoughts on the looming match ahead, “It’s going to be a challenge for us, they’re a really good team. It’s really just an honor to be playing last year’s National Champions.”
Ryan Frisco is a second-year student majoring in communication studies with a minor in journalism. He can be reached at RF648257@wcupa.edu.