West Chester fell to North Carolina in the fifth annual Vonnie Gros Classic last weekend beforing suffering an overtime loss to Towson on Friday evening.No. 1 ranked North Carolina beat the Golden Rams this weekend by a score of 7-1 on the second day of the Vonnie Gros Classic.
UNC head coach Karen Shelton is a West Chester graduate, and has brought her team to the Classic for the past five years.
“This weekend is always like a reunion of sorts,” Shelton said. “I enjoy coming back to West Chester and we’re proud to participate in an event that honors Vonnie Gros, my college coach.”
The Tar Heels proved to be too much for the Golden Rams, despite West Chester’s hustle and effort in the second half.
“I felt we did a good job with the defending national champions,” head coach Kathy Krannebitter said. “They are the best team in the country, and we showed periods of good competitiveness against them. Our second half was aggressive.”
Both Elizabeth Drazdowski of UNC and Alisha Moran of WCU played for Crestwood High School, and each came through for their respective teams.
Jaclyn Radyany and Kelsey Koloiechick of UNC each scored twice and Drazdowski was credited with one goal and one assist.
UNC sophomore Jaclyn Gaudioso Radvany pushed in a shot from freshman Marta Malmberg in the 11th minute, putting them on the score board first. The Tar Heels’ second tally came in the 20th minute from freshman Katie Shanahan’s first career goal.
Two minutes later, Drazdowski scored off of a deflection from a shot by sophomore Caitlin Van Sickle at the penalty corner. In the following seven minutes, Kolojejchick recorded her first unassisted goal of the game.
At halftime the score was 4-0 in favor of UNC.
Gaudioso Radyany scored again after halftime which was then followed by another goal from Kolojejchick with an assist from Malmberg.
The Golden Rams scored on a breakaway goal credited to Alisha Moran. She took the ball down the field alone and pushed it past UNC goalkeeper Jackie Kintzer in the 53rd minute to avoid getting shutout. The 6-1 score did not last as Tar Heels sophomore Katie Ardrey scored her first career goal to push UNC’s lead to 7-1.
Freshman goalkeeper Kristin Arnold made 13 saves in Saturday’s loss to North Carolina.
The Tar Heels outshot the Golden Rams by a 27-8 margin.
UNC maintained their perfect 10-0 record in its five years at the Vonnie Gros Classic. The win allowed UNC to continue their undefeated season with a 5-0 record.
Until they faced the Golden Rams, UNC shut out top ranked teams including Iowa, Michigan and Wake Forest. Krannebitter said she was proud of the team’s performance against the undefeated, top ranked team.
“We have shown steady improvement all season. We are young, but we work very hard,” said Kranebitter.
The Golden Rams were sitting with a 3-2 record on the season before traveling to Towson on Friday for a 6 p.m. game against the Tigers.
“I think in two of the last three games we have gone to overtime with them. It is time, this year, to beat them,” Kranebitter said.
The Golden Rams landed in overtime again during their away game versus Towson on Friday night, in a losing effort to defeat the Tigers. West Chester left their Maryland campus with a 3-3 record.
West Chester scored twice in the first 14 minutes of play. Alisha Moran pushed the ball past Towson goalkeeper Whitney Clugston from ten yards out to give her an unassisted goal, her third of the season.
Kate Zunski doubled their lead three minutes later with her second goal of the season.
Towson reciprocated in the 17th minute with goals from Kate DeFilippo, and Jamie Salvador. The score remained 2-2 for the entire second half, sending the teams into overtime.
Kristin Arnold was in the cage for the first half and allowed both goals. Gabby Panasiewicz took over in the second half.
Five minutes into overtime, Towson’s Kate DeFilippo was credited with the game winning goal, her second of the night.
Panasiewicz took the loss for the Golden Rams, playing the entire second half and into overtime. She now has a 1-2 record.
In spite of the losses in the past few games, Krannebitter said she is pleased with both of her goalkeepers.
“Our defense is really coming along, especially our goalkeepers -they are both very talented, and both bring positives to our team.”
West Chester will return home for a Sunday match up against the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Lions are currently ranked 15th in the country.
“Penn State is one of the top teams in the country,” said Krannebitter.”They are well coached, and have a lot of talent on their team. They play with great speed and confidence. We are going to have to play well to have a chance to win.”
The Nittany Lions started the season ranked 18th in the country and have improved their ranking to 15th nationwide with an aggressive start to their 2010 season.
This will be the two team’s 48th matchup. West Chester has had 15 wins to Penn State’s 32.
West Chester will start their conference season in October, and Krannebitter says that she wants her team to be fully prepared for the competition.
“Overall, we are looking to take another positive step with our team,” said Krannebitter.
Krannebitter notes the challenging match up this weekend as, “Another stop on that journey.”
The Golden Rams will match up with Nittany Lions Sunday at noon at Vonnie Gros Field.
Brynn Dougherty is a third-year student at West Chester University. She can be reached at LH639694@wcupa.edu.