No. 9 West Chester University lacrosse (5-2, 2-1 PSAC) went 1-1 on the week, picking up a dominant win over conference foe Kutztown University (5-4, 1-4 PSAC) on Wednesday afternoon before falling to No. 2 ranked Lindenwood University (14-0, 6-0) in a lopsided affair on Saturday afternoon.
WCU was led by Kristen Vath and Sami Barnett in their win over Kutztown, as the two combined to score 10 goals. Vath and Barnett’s scoring binge was accompanied by hat tricks from Olivia Martin (four goals on the afternoon) and Ashley Pyle (three goals) and another score from Alex Windig.
Pyle’s goal to open the game (assisted by Dina Cifelli) was matched by Kutztown’s Lauren Schmidt (assisted by Sarah Gabriele) to knot the game up at one apiece, but the Golden Rams managed to score four consecutive goals to give themselves a comfortable cushion.
Kutztown issued a nice response as they netted two straight scores to trim WCU’s lead, but that’s the lowest the margin would be for the remainder of the afternoon as West Chester began to impose their will with their dizzying offensive attack.
Kutztown was outscored 13-5 the rest of the way with two of those goals coming in garbage time. West Chester remained the aggressor in the contest, out-shooting KU 32-15 (26-13 shots on goal).
Goalie Nicole Martins made five saves en route to the victory and boosted her record to 5-1.
WCU did not fare well in their duel with undefeated Lindenwood, who marched onto Vonnie Gros Field and trumped the Golden Rams 17-7 behind 11 free-position goals.
The Lions tilted things in their favor with a 7-1 charge over the last 20 minutes of the first half, going into the break with a 10-3 lead. WCU scrapped to close the gap, but the deficit ultimately proved to be insurmountable.
Barnett recorded yet another hat trick and she was joined at the scoring party by Rachel Harman, Sarah Gebre, Martin and Pyle, who all breached Lindenwood’s goal at least once. The Lions had a cast of nine players score at least once, with four of them hitting the back of the net at least twice. Sophie Buelow’s four goals led the way for the Lions.
West Chester was bested by Lindenwood in all the major metrics as the Golden Rams were outshot 20-34 (13- 26 shots on goal) and coughed up the ball eight more times than the Lions (19-11 turnovers).
West Chester will close their four-game homestand with a game against Bloomsburg University (6-3, 3-2 PSAC) on Tuesday afternoon before venturing out on the road for three consecutive contests. WCU hopes to claim a .500 record on their homestand, so be sure to head over to Vonnie Gros Field to support our Golden Rams.
William Boyer is a third-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at WB806695@wcupa.edu.