The West Chester women’s soccer team continued its streak of shutout victories Saturday afternoon, defeating New Haven, 3-0, at South Campus field.Andrea Irizarry scored the game-winning goal as the first half was winding down to propel the Golden Rams (9-0) to another impressive win, improving their record to 9-0 on the season. Irizarry’s first goal of the season came via an assist from Lauren Ginnona at 39:21. Danielle Gerz notched her third goal of the season to make it a 2-0 game in the second half. Julie Karcher added a third goal to give the Golden Rams some extra insurance.
Karcher leads the team in every scoring category this season, including eight goals. Since 2003, the junior has tallied 32 goals on 103 shots. In only her third season with the team, Karcher ranks third among the all-time career scoring leaders in West Chester. Freshman goalkeeper Hilary Smart stopped all three New Haven (6-2) shots on net.
Smart, who picked up her fifth win on Saturday, has helped anchor the women’s defense the entire season despite having less than one year of collegiate experience. The net-minding threesome of Smart, Brittany Barnes, and Heather Rinker have stopped all 24 shots that they have faced.
The Golden Rams have not allowed a goal in 869:55 minutes of play this season, the longest active streak by any team in the entire PSAC conference this season. No women’s team has allowed fewer than 14 goals in a season since 1993. The 2005 Golden Rams are on pace to shatterthe 11 shutout wins the team recorded in 2003.
Saturday’s victory capped off a 2-0 week for the women’s team, who made easy work of East Stroudsburg last Wednesday. Ginnona, Kelly Ryan, Brittany Yetter and Maureen Quigley each scored a goal to lead the Golden Rams.
The women not only have been dominating on the scoreboard this season, but also in the standings. Saturday’s win gives the Golden Rams an eight point lead ahead of second-place Kutztown (5-5) in the PSAC East division. WCU women’s soccer is ranked fifth in the nation.
The Golden Rams will beaway this week, traveling to Bloomsburg on Tuesday before heading to Kutztown on Saturday. On Oct. 5, the women will return to South Campus to battle Shippensburg in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Divison game. Game time is at one p.m. on South Campus