With just three seconds left in the Golden Rams’ non-conferece showdown with ninth-ranked LIU-Post (12-3), Hannah Cowan came up clutch with a laser of a goal to hand West Chester an important win at Vonnie Gros Field.
Cowan’s goal gave the Lady Rams (11-4) their sixth straight win.
LIU-Post had won the last two meetings between the two clubs with West Chester’s last win versus the Pioneers happening way back in the 2012 season.
On a rain-soaked pitch, Cowan sent the assist from Ashley Pyle screaming into the LIU goal and the West Chester bench erupted.
The Lady Rams and Pioneers were locked in a slug fest for most of the afternoon. After the Golden Rams potted three straight goals to start the half, they split the last six goals with the visitors to take a 6-3 lead into halftime.
In the opening volley of the second half, the two sides traded goals with the Golden Rams hanging on to an 8-5 lead, but the Pioneers had other ideas.
Jenna Pierro and Emily Delaney kept LIU-Post within striking distance, pulling the Pioneers to within one, 10-9, with under a minute left in the contest.
The dramatics kicked into gear with LIU forcing a quick turnover followed by a timeout to set up their offense with 57 seconds to play.
Out of the time-out, the Pioneers found Honey Roche in the crease for the timely tally that tied the game with just 28 seconds left, but the celebration would be short-lived.
The Lady Rams responded with some heroics of their own, with Hannah Cowan netting the game-clinching goal with a mere three seconds to play in the game.
On Saturday, the West Chester Women’s Lacrosse team (12-4, 9-3) battered East Stroudsburg in the regular season finale 16-6 to notch their 12th win of the season and locked up the third seed in the PSAC East tournament.
After Caroline Kuchinsky scored to give West Chester a 5-2 lead, the Lady Rams rattled off six consecutive goals for a commanding 11-3 lead going into halftime.
The comfortable lead did the Golden Rams well in the second half as any run by East Stroudsburg was quelled with matching tallies from West Chester.
Hannah Cowan and Sarah Dennison scored four goals each in the contest as West chester won their ninth PSAC East game while Merrily Viguers picked up 12 saves to win her ninth game of the season.
With the third seed in the PSAC East Tournament, West Chester will host rival Bloomsbury on Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Vonnie Gros Field. Student admissions are free with valid school ID.
Cullen Wright is a third-year student majoring in communications. He can be reached at CW830391@wcupa.edu.