KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- Kutztown battled back from an early four-goal deficit to tie eighth-ranked West Chester twice in the second half, but the Golden Bears' valiant upset bid came up just short, 15-15, in an exciting PSAC East matchup Saturday afternoon at Keystone Field.
 
The defending PSAC champion and NCAA quarterfinalist Golden Rams likely weren't expecting much of a fight after going up 4-0 less than six minutes into the game, but that's exactly what they got –and then some—from a growing Kutztown team under first-year head coach Kristen Nicholson.
 
Shannon Lake (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) put the Bears on the board with a free position goal at 7:31 of the first quarter, kickstarting a 4-1 run for the hosts. Lexie Jackson (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) scored, unassisted, at 5:33, and Lailah ElBouazzaoui (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) followed with a pair at 3:16 and 2:09, respectively, to draw Kutztown (4-5, 1-5 PSAC East) within 5-4.
 
With just over five minutes remaining in the first half, West Chester (7-1, 5-1 PSAC East) had restored its four-goal lead, 9-5, with goals 32 seconds apart by Lindsay Monigle and Keri Barnett.
 
The Maroon and Gold refused to go away, though. Emma Meakim (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) converted a free position with 4:23 to go and Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) did the same just over half a minute later. KU went to the break trailing just 10-7.
 
Playing inspired lacrosse, Kutztown came out flying in the second half and scored the first three goals to tie the score for the first time. Lake set up ElBouazzaoui's hat trick goal at 13:03 and Graf netted back-to-back goals with the Golden Rams shorthanded.
 
Reigning PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week Jenna Blesson (Sparta, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) kept the Bears within striking distance, making six of her nine saves in the second half. Kutztown drew even a second time when Olivia Eilbacher (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) beat WCU goalie Amber Weedon on a free position with 12:46 to go in the fourth, but the visiting Rams scored four of the last six goals to hold on.
 
ElBouazzaoui (five goals) and Graf (four goals, assist) paced Kutztown with five-point performances, tied for a game-high with West Chester's Barnett (four goals, assist) and Monigle (goal, four assists). Meakim (goal, two assists) and Lake (goal, assist) each had multi-point days.
 
Cyrose Conteh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) had a strong game with five draw controls and four ground balls, both team-highs.
 
West Chester held slim advantages of 30-25 in shots, 17-16 in draws and 22-21 in turnovers. Both teams picked up 23 ground balls, while Kutztown cleared at an 80% clip (16-of-20) to WCU's 66.7% (16-of-24).
 
Kutztown's two-goal margin of defeat was its closest against West Chester in 16 meetings since 2009 –all Golden Ram wins. West Chester's average margin of victory in a pair of wins over KU last year was 19.0 and its previous lowest margin of victory in those 16 matchups was seven (16-9) back in 2016.
 
The Golden Bears will try to carry Saturday's outstanding effort forward when they host Shepherd in another PSAC East game, Tuesday, at 4 p.m.
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