No. 7 West Chester ran with a 16-3 victory against host Shippensburg preserving their 67th regular-season conference win, and nine-game 2011 winning streak in a PSAC league match on Saturday afternoon. The streak continued on the following Saturday after a 21-5 triumph over Edinboro. Only dropping one contest this season, West Chester (10-1, 8-0 PSAC) won their eighth consecutive game of the 2011 season on Saturday, April 2 against Shippensburg.
Claire Grimwood was the star of the game with four goals and six points overall. Her success did not go unnoticed, as the league named her the PSAC athlete of the week earlier in the week.
The honor marked the first weekly award for a Golden Rams player in the 2011 season.
Grimwood added to each of West Chester’s wins last week. Against Bloomsburg, she tallied two goals and recorded a single ground ball and one draw control.
Against Gannon, she put up six goals and recorded two ground balls, four draw controls and a caused turnover. It took her a mere four minutes to register a hat trick in the game.
When facing Mercyhurst, Grimwood scored two goals, had a draw control and caused one turnover.
In total for last week, Grimwood contributed to West Chester’s 3-0 week with 10 goals, three ground balls, six draw controls and two caused turnovers.
Although Grimwood’s accomplishments added to the win over Shippensburg on Saturday, she was not the only contributor to the team’s 13 point advantage over their hosts. Tori Dugan posted another hat trick-her fourth in the last four games, earning four points on the day.
Lauren Glassey put up two goals with two assists, while Erin Oczkowski and Jackie Hoover each scored twice as well.
MacKenzie O’Keefe (7-1) took the win in the cage, making five saves in the process.
Meghan Kearney made 11 saves in the cage, taking the loss for Shippensburg.
The Lady Rams had a one week reprieve before they traveled to Edinboro for another PSAC match on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Rams were well equipped to dismantle the Fighting Scots over the weekend, especially with the asset of the PSAC athlete of the week, Grimwood.
West Chester took down the Fighting Scots with a final score of 21-5. Jackie Hoover, Jacki Patterson, Nicole Pyle and Claire Grimwood each scored to contribute to the Rams’ 21 earned points.
Hoover initiated scoring 26 seconds into the game, giving West Chester an early 1-0 lead.
Edinboro’s Zajak took an assist from Kaitlin Magee and evened the score 25 minutes later.
West Chester put up two more goals, while Edinboro responded with one. West Chester answered again with two more goals enlarging their advantage to 5-2.
With nearly 16 minutes remaining in the first half, Edinboro’s Shannon Rohrich scored to shrink the Rams’ lead to 5-3.
Before the half came to a close, the Rams tallied six goals; West Chester extended the scoring into the second half, scoring five more goals before the Scots responded.
During that run, Shannon Hayes scored three goals with three assists. Patterson took an assist from Grimwood, giving the Rams a 16-3 lead with nearly 20 minutes remaining of play.
Courtney Hey ended the Rams’ scoring streak 27 minutes into the second half, making the score 17-4.
Grimwood responded with another goal nearly three minutes later.
After Zajak put up Edinboro’s final goal, the Rams finished up scoring with four goals to solidify the score at 21-5.
The Golden Rams had a 43-12 advantage on shots and 16-12 edge in draw controls. Edinboro dropped six of their 12 clear attempts. The Fighting Scots also had 19 turnovers, allowing West Chester to maintain control for a majority of the game.
Edinboro has a 3-8 overall record and is 0-7 in PSAC league play. The victory improved the Rams’ record to 10-1 in the regular season, and 8-0 in PSAC league play.
Jacki Patterson commented on the Rams’ flawless league record, “I think it is very possible for us to keep a perfect PSAC record. We are undefeated so far and we really want that PSAC trophy back on our home turf.”
The Golden Rams will face Dowling on Tuesday in Oakdale, NY at 4:00 p.m. The Golden Lions are 7-2 overall, and 3-0 in conference play.
Although Dowling looks like a good match up for the Rams, the Golden Lions will likely be no match for West Chester’s perfect PSAC record.
“The future for our team looks really promising,” Patterson said. “We are so close as a team and we really mesh on and off the field. We are going to be unstoppable and will see Adelphi again on their home field in May, no doubt.”
Brynn Dougherty is a third-year student at West Chester University. She can be reached at BD670913@wcupa.edu.