Box Score

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's lacrosse team played an exquisite first half on a sunny and pleasant Monday afternoon from Robb Sports Complex and held a three-goal advantage at halftime against PSAC Eastern Division rival West Chester but could not hold on against the No. 7-ranked Golden Rams, dropping an 11-7 decision.

Shippensburg (7-5, 4-3 PSAC East) allowed the fewest goals in a game to West Chester in its 33-year franchise history and the two goals relinquished by the Lady Raiders in the first half is also a program record against the Golden Rams. In 30 previous matchups against West Chester, SU had allowed 13 goals on two occasions, including the team's lone victory over the Golden Rams in 1995.

West Chester (13-0, 7-0 PSAC East) established a 2-0 lead with 13:23 remaining in the first half. Following the second goal, SU head coach Mia Gambino called a timeout and the Lady Raiders responded with an ardent rally to conclude the opening 30 minutes of play, holding the Golden Rams scoreless while scoring five goals of their own.

The run began with a nifty tally by sophomore Jessica Schubach off an outstanding feed from junior Katie Brewer. Just under one minute later, senior Liz DiNunno converted a free-position opportunity to tie the score at 2-2.

SU scored three more goals in the final four minutes of the half. Brewer added her team-leading 26th goal of the season with 3:43 remaining to give Shippensburg a 3-2 advantage. After a West Chester turnover, freshman Roxanne Brown got an open run and converted her scoring opportunity to make it 4-2. A splendid burst with 75 seconds to play by senior Gayle Kuntzmann gave the Lady Raiders their three-goal halftime lead.

Shippensburg was able to control possession for the majority of the first half and achieved a 7-1 advantage in draw controls during the first 30 minutes. Sophomore Ali Cross continued her outstanding work in the circle to help Shippensburg record advantages off the opening draw.

The Golden Rams scored five goals in the first six minutes of the second half and tallied nine unanswered goals to take an 11-5 advantage with 8:59 to play. Junior Rachael Murray added two free-position tallies in the last five minutes of play to produce the final scoring margin.

Defensively, sophomore Meghan Kearney was splendid between the pipes. After a 19-save performance in the previous meeting between the teams this season, Kearney made eight saves in the first half on Monday and finished with 15 for the contest. Senior Lauren Marron also had a strong game with three caused turnovers and four groundballs. Kuntzmann added four caused turnovers, four groundballs and three draw controls.

Monday's loss temporarily puts Shippensburg into a tie for third place with East Stroudsburg, but the Lady Raiders are technically in fourth place by virtue of the Warriors holding the tiebreaker with their victory over SU earlier this season. However, Shippensburg has five games remaining in the regular season and three of them are divisional contests, including one each against the second-place Huskies and third-place Warriors.

Shippensburg returns to action at 4 p.m. Thursday from Robb Sports Complex with a divisional matchup against Kutztown.