The West Chester women’s lacrosse team continued to dominate their opponents for the fifth consecutive week. The first game was against a far more formidable opponent, at least on paper. Never the less the Lady Rams won both their games and solidified their number four ranking in the nation behind only C.W. Post, Limestone, and Adelphi.The ladies began the week facing the fifth best team in the country, conference rival Lock Haven, on the road. In one of the toughest games the Lady Rams took part in all year, they still came out of a hostel environment with a nice six point victory. Attacker Jackie Baker led the offensive assault with five goals and had three of her teammates chip in with hat tricks as well.
Baker had a game high seven points and midfielder Claire Grimwood had four points. Lock Haven sent a formidable attack with two players at six points a piece and one with five, as all 12 of their goals were scored by three total players, four goals apiece. West Chester goalkeeper Mary Beth Green had eight saves on 20 shots.
The second game of the week was at home on a very warm Saturday afternoon against Shippensburg. The fans that sat on the hot turf field saw a 21-6 thumping in favor of the Lady Rams. Midfielder Nicole Haines had five goals (six total points) as Stephanie Kinle and Claire Grimwood also chipped in with six points apiece (three goals and three assists each).
Grimwood scored one of her goals off of a beautiful pass that she leaped for and came down and sent a rocket into the net, sending a wave of “wows” through the crowd. Baker registered five points and Green had nine saves on 15 shots. One very important sight was seeing Gina DiDomenicis return from injury, though she did not score, she did register a shot.
At the end of the week, West Chester sits at the top of the conference with a 13-1 overall record to go along with a perfect 11-0 conference record. The win over Shippensburg resulted in the 13th consecutive victory for the Lady Rams. Lock Haven sits two games behind West Chester in the conference, though the ladies swept the season series from Lock Haven.
Rounding out the top four in the PSAC is Bloomsburg in third and East Stroudsburg sitting in fourth. The Lady Rams cap off their regular season with three games this week.
The first two are on the road, Monday at Bloomsburg University and Thursday at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), both slated for 4 p.m. start times. The girls end the regular season at home on Saturday, April 26 on the turf field hosting East Stroudsburg. The game is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
Mike Heiman is a third-year sudent majoring in Elementary Education with a minor in leteracy. He can be reached at MH606613@wcupa.edu.