After losses to Lock Haven and UMass, the Golden Rams finished the season with a 2-1 win against St. Louis as they completed their last season as a Division I team.The Golden Rams were shutout by host Lock Haven in an Atlantic-10 conference match at Charlotte Smith Field last Sunday afternoon. West Chester suffered a 3-0 loss, their third consecutive conference loss, making their A-10 record 1-4 with a 5-11 season record.
Amy Hordendorf of Lock Haven put up the first tally for the Lady Eagles just two minutes into the tilt. Hordendorf pushed the ball through West Chester goalkeeper Kristen Arnold’s legs putting the Lady Eagles up 1-0 early in the first half.
Twenty-eight minutes later, Lock Haven’s Kristi Shepps knocked in another goal into the far right corner of the cage to finish up the first half.
In the second half, the Lady Eagles quieted the Golden Rams with a final insurance goal, giving Lock Haven the 3-0 shutout victory.
The Golden Rams were outshot by an 8-3 margin in the game.
Arnold spent the whole 70 minutes in the cage and was credited with one save. Lock Haven’s Erin Terreson registered two saves in the shutout.
The Golden Rams honored their seniors, Donna Doubet and Kelsie Ward last Friday at West Chester’s final home game of 2010 against UMass at Vonnie Gros Field.
Unfortunately, the Golden Rams left their home field with a 3-0 shutout defeat. The loss was West Chester’s fifth conference loss in a row, reducing their record to 1-5 in A-10 conference games and 5-12 for the season.
UMass maintained a nearly perfect record, 6-0 in A-10 and 12-6 for their season.
The first half ignited an exciting battle in the cage after Kristen Arnold made a save that ricocheted the ball back into the circle.
Kim Young of UMass took control of the loose ball and shot it past Arnold before she had the time to recover from the initial save. Young gave the Minutewomen an early advantage 10 minutes into the game.
Ten minutes into the second half, Katie Kelly of UMass was awarded a penalty corner. Kelly set up a shot for Thando Zono who shot another ball past Arnold to double the visitors’ lead to 2-0.
Minutes later, Lindsay Bowman put the game away for the Minutewomen after taking another assist from Kelly giving her team a 3-0 victory.
Arnold (4-8) made six saves in her last start of the season. UMass goalkeeper Alesha Widdall registered four saves in the shutout.
The game marked West Chester’s fourth shutout loss of the season. The first shutout was October 17, immediately following the loss of three key players to injuries.
The Golden Rams have had a tough season against highly ranked teams. The season only got harder after losing three significant players to injuries, including Kate Zunski and Leah Angstadt, two of the team’s top-scoring forwards.
When all hope seemed to diminish throughout a tough season, the Golden Rams stuck it out and ended their season strong with a 2-1 season finale win at St. Louis on Sunday afternoon.
Alisha Moran and Nicole Fiorilla both put in goals that helped lead the Golden Rams to their final win of the season.
West Chester wrapped up their season 2-5 in the A-10 conference and 6-12 for the season. St. Louis concluded a winless season, 0-7 in A-10 and 0-20 for their overall season.
Moran put in the first shot of the game in the 29th minute after converting a penalty stroke. Before the teams could retreat for halftime, Shelby Dittmar tied the game 1-1 a minute later.
The game remained tied until the 43rd minute when Fiorilla put in the final goal of the game giving the Golden Rams the 2-1 victory. Lauren Schott and Courtney Wolff were both credited with assists on the shot.
Gabby Panasiewicz was in the cage for the Golden Rams’ final game and registered two saves. St. Louis goalkeeper Katherine Deem made four saves for the Billikens in the loss.
Although the Golden Rams faced difficulty in their season, team members say that this season was a success regardless of their record. Head coach Kathy Krannebitter also acknowledged that her team’s record does not do justice to the progress they’ve made this season, especially considering the injuries this season.
Angstadt and Zunski left two thirds of the way into the season and still ended amongst the leaders in scoring. Needless to say, their injuries were a large detriment to the team.
Angstadt’s season ended after suffering stress fractures in both tibias.
“This season has been somewhat of a growing season for us,” Angstadt commented. “We lost a couple key players due to injury or for personal reasons but we have been fighting hard all season and a lot of our games were close ones.”
Zunski’s season ended after an ACL injury during the game against St. Joe’s.
“We made a lot of progress this season that you wouldn’t be able to conclude by looking at the numbers,” Zunski said. “We know what we need to work on during the off season and I’m confident that we’ll be a stronger team.”
At the start of the season, head coach Kathy Krannebitter acknowledged that this was going to be a rough season after losing several powerful seniors from the prior year. Although she was on the mark with her assessment, Krannebitter said she’s proud of the progress her young team has made this season.
“Despite being so young, the team really played some very good hockey…The team loses one starter, and should be in very good position to have a good year in ’11.”
The Golden Rams will move to Division II for this coming season, a decision that came from the University.
“It is a sad time for the program because we have played at this level for many, many years – we have been playing some of the teams since the 1970s,” Krannebitter commented. She added that she thinks the team is capable of competing at the Division I level, but will trust the University’s direction.
“It will be an adjustment, but I am sure the team will be able to make the adjustments necessary.”
While looking to the future, Krannebitter said she expects that the off season will bring about the maturation necessary for a very successful field hockey team.
“The record is not indicative of the progress made, but progress and growth was made, and thus the future is a good one.”
Brynn Dougherty is a third-year student at West Chester University. She can be reached at LH639694@wcupa.edu.