CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 16, 2011) – The Kutztown University women's lacrosse team will enjoy a happy bus ride back to Berks County after completing a South Carolina sweep with a 13-7 victory over Converse College Thursday afternoon. (BOXSCORE)
Getting contributions from everybody in their line-up, the Golden Bears are off to a 2-0 start for the first time since the women's lacrosse program was reinstated in 2008. Kutztown used the accurate shooting of Rachel Mehaffey (Woodbury, NJ/West Deptford) and strong goal-keeping of freshman Joann McLaughlin. Mehaffey scored a career-high six goals to lead the Kutztown assault on the Converse net.
Meanwhile, McLaughlin turned aside 16 shots to win her second start. The Golden Bears were confident when they departed for South Carolina. Now, as they get ready to begin Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference competition, the Golden Bears really believe something special could be developing.
“We're not quite where we want to be yet as a team,” Kutztown head lacrosse coach Sarah Greer said. “We did take another step in the right direction. We're beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel for our program and the hard work the team put in during the offseason is starting to payoff.”
Mehaffey wasn't a one-woman show for the Golden Bears. She had plenty of help as five Kutztown players scored. Leann Pica and Kelsey Hogan (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) scored two goals each for the Golden Bears. Also scoring for Kutztown were Amanda Bushnog, Kierstyn Mock (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown), and Katie Feairheller (Ocean City, NJ/Ocean City). Overall, the Golden Bears pelted Converse with 16 shots.
With McLaughlin standing tall in goal, Marissa Kalodner, Randy Vite (Highland Mills, NY/Monroe-Woodbury), Justine Simonsen (Hatboro, PA/Upper Moreland), and Megan Schwarr led a strong defensive effort. Vite and Pica led the Golden Bears with five ground balls each.
“We worked well as a team,” Greer said. “The girls did a nice job of executing the plays on both sides of the field. Our keeper Jo played an awesome game. I also thought our shot selection was good.”
This game was almost a carbon copy of the Golden Bears' season opening win at Erskine. Kutztown sprinted to a 3-1 lead. However, Converse scored three consecutive goals to grab a 4-3 lead with 8 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the first half. Kutztown took control of the contest again like it did against Erskine.
Hogan got the Golden Bears even 20 seconds later. Mehaffey scored consecutive goals and Pica added a tally as KU finished the half by scoring four times to take a 7-4 lead into intermission. Mehaffey opened the second half with two straight goals in the first nine minutes that extended Kutztown's advantage to 9-4. From there the game belonged to the Golden Bear defense as it shutdown Converse.
Kutztown's defense harassed Converse like bill collectors all game long. Most of the time, a Converse player got close to the net, they were surrounded by two Golden Bear defenders.
The Golden Bears return to action Tuesday afternoon when they open PSAC play against Bloomsburg in a match scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.
--KU--
