The West Chester University Golden Rams field hockey team capped off a successful regular season in style with a 4-1 victory over Seton Hill University. The game marked the last regular season home game for four senior members of the squad.
The four seniors have been a crucial part of the team for the last four years of their collegiate careers. The seniors who were honored were Alayna Brown, Alexa Moran, Kristina Scherrer, and Alexis Versak. In their freshman year, they helped the Golden Rams capture the Division II National Championship. Brown finishes her regular season career with 19 goals and 17 assists after being a key playmaker for the Golden Rams’ forwards the last four years.
Moran finishes with two career goals and three assists. Moran is the type of player that every coach would love to have on their team. She doesn’t show up in the goal column often, but she does all the little things. She has been a key part of the midfielder group for West Chester the last four years. Scherrer finishes with six goals and 14 assists. She has been the backbone of the defense and the entire team all four years of her career. Versak finishes with 28 goals and 12 assists throughout her regular season career with the Golden Rams. She is one of the most versatile players on the team, she can play almost any and every position and produce no matter where she is.
After the pregame festivities were finished, it was game time against Seton Hill University. Seton Hill came into the game with a record of 1-14 and suffered a 6-0 loss the last time they faced the Golden Rams. Rachael Toppi opened up the scoring in the 16th minute with her team leading 18th goal of the season. Just 78 seconds later, Toppi added another goal to give the Rams a quick 2-0 lead. The first half was completely dominated by West Chester, as they outshot Seton Hill 16-1. The second half was the same story. Dominque Cappello got Seton Hill on the board in the 58th minute to bring the game to within one, but the Golden Rams answered right back. Dayle Paustian scored four minutes later to reestablish the two goal lead. Paustian then added another 10 minutes later to give WCU a 4-1 lead and secure the victory. West Chester outshot Seton Hill 12-2 in the second half and by a total of 28-3 for the game.
The Golden Rams finished the season on a hot streak of five wins in a row while outscoring opponents 23-4 during that stretch. West Chester now must await their fate and see where they are placed in the PSAC tournament which begins on Nov. 3. It’s an unfamiliar situation for WCU as they will probably not receive one of the top two seeds like they are used to. They will most likely play at Kutztown in the first round. The Golden Bears have been a tough opponent this year as they handed West Chester one of its three losses of the season on Oct. 13 (3-2). The Golden Rams did defeat Kutztown earlier in the season 1-0, but this upcoming game will be WCU’s biggest test this season. West Chester will need to carry the momentum of the five game winning streak into Kutztown as they try to repeat as PSAC Champions.
Dylan Harrison is a fourth-year student majoring in communications with a minor in journalism. He can be reached at DH785892@wcupa.edu