KUTZTOWN, Pa. --The tenth-ranked Kutztown University women's lacrosse team (13-3,9-2 PSAC East) led entering halftime, but fell victim to a second-half surge from No. 2 West Chester (16-0, 11-0 PSAC East) in a 14-11 loss at a packed Keystone Field Wednesday afternoon.
Katie Yocum (Hanover, Pa./South Western) led KU with a team-high four goals in the loss. Shannon Lake (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) had five points from two goals and three assists. Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) netted a hat trick for her 62nd, 63rd, and 64th goals of the season, extending her program record for single goals in a season. Jenna Blesson (Sparta, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) made 11 saves in the cage for KU.
Sydney Wasdick had five goals for West Chester, while the second-leading goalscorer in the PSAC Hannah Stanislawczyk had four. Jessica Gorr made five saves for the Golden Rams.
The Golden Bears came out of the gate firing in this top-ten matchup, outscoring West Chester 4-1 in the first quarter. After an opening goal from Madeline Edinger with 12:38 on the clock, Yocum responded with her 20th goal of the season just over a minute later to tie the game at one. In the final five minutes of the first, goals from Lake, Emma Meakim (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland), and Yocum extended the lead to 4-1 KU.
The Golden Rams responded early in the second with back-to-back goals to make it 4-3. West Chester threatened throughout the second quarter with nine shots on goal, but goalie Blesson was equal to the challenge, making five saves in the quarter. The graduate student had an impressive nine saves in the first half.
After a goal from Wasdick tied the game at 4-4 with 5:09 till the half, KU's leading scorer Graf found twine twice just a minute apart to extend the KU lead back out to 6-4. Wasdick netted one more with eight seconds till the half to make it 6-5 KU entering the break.
West Chester came out of the break firing on all cylinders with three goals in the first five minutes of the third to take the 8-6 lead. Despite the run, the Golden Bears showed great resilience, retaking the lead with goals from Olivia Eilbacher (Cherry Hill, N.J./Camden Catholic), Yocum, and Lake to make it 9-8. Wasdick found the back of the cage again with 2:35 left in the quarter to knot things up at nine entering the fourth.
The teams traded goals to open the final quarter, but the West Chester offense started to roll as the final whistle approached. Julia Littlewood, Stanislawczyk, and Amanda Wolfe scored the next three goals to give the Golden Rams a 13-10 lead. Graf found the back of the cage with 5:23 to make it 13-11, but Piper Hammond's goal with three minutes left proved to be the dagger. KU was outscored 5-2 in the fourth and turned the ball over twice on its final two possessions.
The loss snaps a six-game winning streak for the Golden Bears dating back to a 16-9 defeat to this same Golden Rams squad back on April 3rd. Two of KU's three losses on the season have come to West Chester, with the other one against No. 4 Tampa.
The Golden Bears still sit in a great spot entering the final game of the regular season, having secured the No. 2 seed in the PSAC East. The Golden Bears travel to No. 12 East Stroudsburg on Saturday, May 4 at 2 p.m. to wrap up the regular season.
