On Monday, the West Chester University Lady Rams (6-1-1, 2-1-1 PSAC East) continued their winning ways as they defeated PSAC East rival, East Stroudsburg Lady Warriors (4-4, 3-2 PSAC East), 2-1 in overtime.East Stroudsburg was able to get on the board first as sophomore Janel Cleffi scored on a pass from first-year player Kailyn Buckley off of a corner kick just seven minutes into the game.
West Chester was not able to get anything going until the 25th minute, when junior Brittany Yetter scored on a pass from senior Lauren Ginnona.
Both teams were held scoreless and the game went into an extra session.
Five minutes into overtime, freshman Sarah Oswald kicked in her ninth goal of the season on a pass from fellow freshman Jessica Bennett to give the Lady Rams their fourth consecutive victory. Oswald never let the ball hit the ground as she drilled it into the corner of the net.
On Thursday, the Lady Rams (7-1-1, 3-1-1 PSAC East) defeated PSAC East rival the Mansfield University Mountaineers (2-4-1, 2-2 PSAC East) 1-0. This was the Lady Rams fourth straight victory by one goal, and fifth straight win overall.
The first half was a back and forth affair. West Chester was on the attack throughout, but could not find the back of the net as Mountaineer goalkeeper junior Justine Segear stopped everything that West Chester threw at her.
Oswald and senior Danielle Gerz each presented the best scoring opportunities for the Golden Rams halfway through the first half. Oswald tried to and hit a header into the net, but Segear was right there to close the door. Gerz also couldn’t connect as she had a free kick that landed into the hands of Segear again to keep the game scoreless.
“We have some great opportunities, we’re just not finishing,” Coach Betty Ann Kempf Townsley said. That can get frustrating. I think the fact that we keep playing and we are out there, and we come out with a win, that’s a positive.”
The second half started much of the same. West Chester continued to attack as they posted nine shots during the final half of play. In the 82nd minute, Christine Thurwanger was able to hit junior Brittnay Yetter to score her fifth goal of the season. The West Chester defense continued to play strong as they did not allow the Mountaineers to get any great scoring opportunities.
“Well, I think this was not a well played game for us at all. I don’t think we played are best,” Kempf Townsley said. I think that every team that comes here to play us will be up for the game and they always have a plan and they execute their plan and they continue to execute their plan.” .
Kempf Townsley continued, “Some teams throw us off of our game and the more we go without scoring the more difficult it is for us.”
Starting in place of injured goal keeper Hilary Smart was junior Brittany Barnes. Even though the defense only allowed two shots, she recorded one save in her debut, this was a big step in getting confidence just in case she has to step into future games.
West Chester recorded 14 shots on goal compared to only two by Mansfield. Segear saved five throughout the contest in a losing effort.
On Saturday, West Chester (8-1-1, 4-1-1 PSAC East) was able to continue their winning ways when they defeated the Bloomsburg Lady Huskies (3-5, 2-3 PSAC East) 3-0 in a PSAC East Battle.
In the first half, Brittany Yetter scored her sixth goal of the season as she was able to score pass Huskies goal keeper Brittany Moses.
In the second half, the Lady Rams were able to put the game out of reach as they scored twice two minutes apart from each other.
Rita Alton was able to score her first goal of the season in the 53rd minute. Oswald continued her dominance as she scored her tenth goal of the season in the 55th minute.
Smart returned to goal as she recorded her first shutout of the season. This was the Golden Rams second consecutive shutout this season.
LJ Harrell is a West Chester Student. He can be reached at LH639694@wcupa.edu