The Lady Rams started off their 2013 campaign with an impressive 20-3 victory over visiting Fort Lewis (Colo.) Thursday afternoon. It was a total team effort as 13 different Rams registered a goal in the contest. Freshmen Hannah Cowan and Erin Eckert led the way, each recording a hat trick.
The Rams wasted no time starting the scoring barrage as Sarah Dennison punched home the first goal of the game only two and half minutes into the game. Jaime Dolan was able to tack on two more in the next two minutes giving the Rams a 3-0 edge. Cowan also registered her first goal of the game, giving West Chester a commanding 4-0 advantage not even six minutes into the game.
Moments later Cowan added her second of the game off an assist from Nicole Pyle stretching the lead to 5-0. Not even a minute later, Pyle added a goal of her own making it 6-0 Rams.
Marissa DiCecco of Fort Lewis was finally able to penetrate the Rams defense and get the Skyhawks on the board in the 13th minute of the game, making it 6-1.
The Golden Rams quickly responded when Tori Dugan scored her first goal of the season off Pyle’s second assist of the day.
Pyle continued the offensive outbreak with her second goal of the game, assisted by Caroline Kuchinsky making it 8-1.
Theresa Guinta tallied her first goal of the season with nine minutes remaining in the first half.
Brittany Long then tacked on two goals in a row within 40 seconds of one another, assisted by Kuchinsky and Guinta respectively, increasing the lead to 11-1.
Cowan finished her impressive first half hat trick with five minutes remaining in the half on a goal assisted by Dugan.
To finish off the explosive first half, Eckert recorded her first goal of the season with only 24 ticks on the clock. This capped off a 13-goal first half and gave the Rams a 13-1 edge heading into the locker room.
The second half proved to be the same song and dance for the visiting Skyhawks, who had a tough time doing much of anything throughout the game. Five minutes into the half, the Rams offensive outbreak continued, as Eckert tacked on her second of the game giving West Chester a 14-1 lead.
Haley Nelson scored her first goal of the season in a man-down situation following Dennison’s yellow card. Following that short-handed goal, Jordan Heidelbaugh also scored in a man-down situation, extending the lead to 16-1.
An attribute to the Rams tenacious defense, it was not until the 11th minute that Fort Lewis was able to add another goal, closing the gap ever so slightly to 18-2.
One more goal from the Skyhawks made it 19-3 and West Chester tacked on one final goal, closing out their opponent with an extraordinary 20-3 victory.
West Chester outshot the Skyhawks an outstanding 39 to 12, a sign of their aggressiveness on offense.
On the other end of the field, the Rams defense absolutely stymied their opponent, holding them to only 12 shots for the game and causing 27 turnovers.
Both goalies shined in net combining for eight saves on 11 shots on goal.
It was clearly a team effort and a team win, something harped on by co-captain Theresa Guinta.
“We had a solid win, everyone meshed really well together and we got to see every person on our team shine.” said Giunta. “Our defense played aggressive and our attack did a great job of being patient and seeing the openings in their defense. We dominated across the whole field from attack all the way down to defense.”
For a team whose goal is to return to the national championship, West Chester got off to a promising start. The next two games will be on the road, as they travel to North Carolina over Spring Break to take on Belmont Abbey and Lenoir-Rhyne.
Timothy Mulqueen is a third-year student majoring in marketing. He can be reached at TM734386@wcupa.edu.