West Chester Rallies, Will Play LHU for PSAC
from press release
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Senior attacker
Nicole Haines swatted a loose ball into the cage with 1:41
remaining to lift No. 6 West Chester to a wild 19-18 victory over
No. 8 Gannon in the semifinals of the 2010 PSAC Women’s
Lacrosse Championships on a sunny and hot Friday afternoon at
Vonnie Gros Field.
The win advances West Chester (17-0) to the conference
championship game for the ninth consecutive season where the Golden
Rams will meet Lock Haven (15-1) in a rematch of last year’s
final. West Chester and Lock Haven have played for the PSAC crown
in each of the last four campaigns. The Rams will be looking for
their 21st conference title on Saturday.
Lock Haven defeated Bloomsburg, 20-5, in the other PSAC semifinal
at Vonnie Gros Field on Friday afternoon.
Gannon took its first lead of the contest (15-14) with 12:47 left
on a Taryn Millerd’s fifth goal of the game. Rachel DerCola
and Kayla Nelson each tallied during the next five minutes to put
the visitor’s up by three, 17-14. DerCola assisted on
Nelson’s marker.
After Nelson’s goal at the 7:05 point, Gannon head coach
Steve Wagner called a timeout. West Chester used the time to
regroup and finished the game on a 5-1 run over the final six
minutes to squeeze out the victory.
Nicole Pyle and Claire Grimwood scored 17 seconds apart shortly
after the breather to pull the Rams within one. Haines then knotted
things up with 3:53 to go at 17-apiece.
Gannon’s Caitlin Fisher deposited a shot by West Chester
goalkeeper MacKenzie O’Keefe with 2:31 left to put the Golden
Knights on top once again, 18-17. However, Grimwood took the draw
control off the ensuing faceoff and charged down field, throwing
her shot past Gannon’s keeper Acacia Cook to quickly even
things up once again.
Just 40 seconds later, Pyle took a shot that Cook saved. But, the
rebound fell to the turf. In the mad scramble for possession,
Haines swung her stick at the ball and knocked it past Cook for the
game-winner.
Haines and Pyle each finished with four goals on the afternoon.
Grimwood tallied a game-high six goals and posted eight points in
the win. Gabrielle Stitz scored a pair of goals while Shannon
Hayes, Theresa Giunta and Lauren Glassey each registered a tally as
well. Hayes added two assists for a three-point afternoon.
Hayes secured eight draw controls while Katy Crouse and Giunta
each recorded four DC’s for the Golden Rams. Crouse
contributed three ground balls and three caused turnovers as
well.
West Chester opened the game with a 6-0 run over the first five
minutes of action, taking advantage of Gannon’s zone defense.
Grimwood played a part in five of those markers, scoring three
herself.
From there Gannon switched to a man-to-man defense, following a
timeout, and awakened offensively outscoring West Chester 10-5 over
the final 20 minutes of the half.
Mary Eshenour fueled the explosion with four of her five goals on
the day. Jess Fugate scored three goals as well for the Knights.
That spurt drew Gannon within one (11-10) at halftime.
Nelson finished with two goals for Gannon while Sarag Gryzbinski
tallied the only other marker for the eighth-ranked Knights.
Cook made 12 saves in goal for Gannon. O’Keefe registered
eight saves for West Chester.
