On Wednesday, the West Chester University Lady Rams (13-2-2, 8-1-2 PSAC East) clinched their third consecutive PSAC Eastern Division championship with a 2-0 victory over the East Stroudsburg University Lady Warriors.In the 34th minute of the first half, freshman Christine Thurwanger scored passed ESU goal keeper Janine Turcio to give the Rams the early lead.
WCU would never look back as senior forward Danielle Gerz scored five minutes into the second half off a pass from teammate Lauren Ginnona to end the scoring.
West Chester limited the Warriors to only six shots while firing twelve of their own. Brittany Barnes recorded two saves while going the distance for the shutout. Turcio had nine saves in a losing effort for the Warriors.
On October 20th, the Lady Rams lost to Slippery Rock University 3-1. This marked the Rams second loss of the season.
Six minutes into the game, SRU junior Danielle Cooper scored off of an assist from Jaimi Wilson to give The Rock the early lead. They were not done after that goal as freshman Alison Hindley put home the next two goals for SRU to give them a commanding 3-0 lead early in the second half.
West Chester sophomore midfielder Rita Alton would get the Rams on the board as she scored in the 68th minute pass SRU goal keeper Lauren McManus to cut The Rock lead to two. But the Rams were not able to connect on any other shots to come from behind for the victory.
Goal keeper Brittany Barnes allowed three goals while saving six shots. McManus has five saves while only allowing one goal.
On October 10th, West Chester avenged their first loss of the season by defeating the Shippensburg University Red Raiders 1-0.
Rita Alton scored in the twenty-fifth minute for the only score of the contest. Even though they were playing without leading scorer Sarah Oswald, the Rams fired off 23 shots to force the Raiders defense to play on their heels throughout the game.
West Chester’s defense was stifling as they did not allow a Red Raiders shot on goal throughout the contest. SU goal keeper Beth Long recorded thirteen saves while allowing one goal in the game.
Hilary Smart improved her season record to 11-1-2 in goal for the Rams as she recorded another shutout in the process.
This week, the Lady Rams prepare for the PSAC postseason as they await the winner of East Stroudsburg and Bloomsburg on Tuesday. The winner of that match up will be heading here to face the Lady Rams on Friday at 1 PM down on the South Campus Soccer Fields. The Rams enter the playoffs as the defending PSAC Champions.
In the Western Division, Slippery Rock has earned a bye in the quarterfinals as they will host the winner of Edinboro and IUP on Friday. Last year, the Lady Rams defeated IUP in the PSAC Championship game. The PSAC Championship game will be played at the highest remaining Eastern Division team’s home stadium on Sunday at 1 PM.
LJ Harrell is a second year student majoring in business. He can be reached at LH639694@wcupa.edu