WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- Lailah ElBouazzaoui (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) became the first Kutztown women's lacrosse player to score 40 goals in a season since 2018,
Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) had six points and
Olivia Eilbacher (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic) registered a hat trick, but the Golden Bears couldn't overcome a slow start in a 22-8 PSAC East loss at nationally-ranked No. 4 West Chester Wednesday afternoon.
The Maroon and Gold fell behind 5-1 against the Golden Rams earlier this month before rallying to twice tie the game in a tighter than anticipated 15-13 setback. This time, West Chester found another gear, scoring 11 times in the first 15 minutes and never looking back.
Shannon Lake (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) scored off a pass from Graf at the 9:22 mark of the first quarter to get KU (4-12, 1-10 PSAC) on the board, but the hosts had already struck six times to that point.
The Golden Bears cut into a nine-goal deficit during the early stages of the second, as Graf scored unassisted at 14:42, before setting up Eilbacher's second goal of the day at 12:23. ElBouazzaoui finished a pass from
Marissa Giancola (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional) with KU shorthanded at 8:06 for her 40th goal of the season to make it 11-5.
ElBouazzaoui's 40-goal season is the ninth in program history and first since Sarah Gabriele collected 41 in 2018. Gabriele is responsible for three of those seasons with 53 in 2017 and 49 in 2016.
West Chester (14-1, 11-1 PSAC) answered Kutztown's three-goal run by scoring the next four to push its lead to 15-5 with 2:43 left in the first half. Eilbacher completed her hat trick, with Graf assisting, at 1:24.
The Golden Rams continued to control the game in the second half, outscoring the Bears 7-2 over the third and fourth quarters. Graf was in on both tallies, scoring her 39th goal of the season at 5:45 of the third and notching her fourth assist of the afternoon on Lexi Jackson's man-up goal at 9:53 of the fourth.
Graf has a team-leading 57 points on the year (39 goals, 18 assists) --sixth most in a season in team history. She can join the 60-point club with three in Kutztown's season finale Saturday at Shepherd.
West Chester held a sizable advantages in shots (43-14) and draw controls (22-10), while going a perfect 13-of-13 on clearing attempts. The Rams received a game-high seven goals and seven points from Hannah Stanislawczyk. Julia Littlewood had six points (four goals, two assists), while Keri Barnett (three goals, assist) and Meg O'Donnell (goal, three assists) added four apiece.
Jenna Blesson (Sparta, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) started in the cage and made seven saves over the first three quarters for KU. She faced a barrage of shots, 35 in all.
Fiona Henderson (Doylestown, Pa./Central Bucks East) took over in the fourth and stopped five shots from the Golden Rams.
Kutztown travels to West Virginia to end its season against Shepherd Saturday at 1 p.m.
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