PITTSBURGH – The No. 3-ranked Shippensburg University field hockey team posted a convincing victory in the 2018 NCAA Division II Championship Semifinals on Thursday over No. 1-ranked West Chester, 4-0, from Arthur J. Rooney Field on the campus of Duquesne University.
 
The victory puts Shippensburg (18-4) into the 2018 NCAA Division II Championship game on Saturday, where the Raiders will face East Stroudsburg (16-4). It is the first time that two teams from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) will meet in the NCAA Division II Championship game since 1998.
 
Sophomore Jazmin Petrantonio scored all four of Shippensburg's goals. The virtuoso performance helped set a pair of NCAA Division II records: Petrantonio tied the NCAA Division II Championships single-game record with four goals, becoming the third player to achieve the feat and the first since 2004.
 
Petrantonio, in five career NCAA Tournament matches, has now scored nine career goals – more than any other Division II athlete in history.
 
"It was a very special day," head coach Tara Zollinger said afterward. "Jazmin will probably be very humble about it, but it's incredible what she can do under pressure, whether it's pressure in the game on the stage that we're on right now."
 
Thursday marked the third meeting this season between the Raiders and West Chester (17-3). The Golden Rams defeated Shippensburg in the 2018 PSAC Championship Game (3-1 on Nov. 18) and also won during the regular season at Robb Sports Complex (4-2 on Oct. 9).
 
Thursday also marked Shippensburg's first shutout of West Chester since Sept. 8, 2012 and its largest margin of victory over the Golden Rams in 17 career meetings between the two teams.
 
"It's really one of a kind, and I'm just really proud of her for this game, because this is an opponent that we faced two times earlier in the season, had a different outcome, and it was a very emotional first two games to be honest," Zollinger added. "For her to be able to come into this game with the maturity that she came into the game with, to be able to have a performance like this is phenomenal, and I'm really proud of her."
 
SU and WCU were mostly even through the first 20 minutes of play Thursday, having combined for just two shots on goal before Petrantonio's first tally came with 12:17 remaining in the first half. Her goal came off a restart in which she faked a reverse pass and dribbled through multiple Golden Ram defenders to fire a shot through the legs of WCU keeper Marissa Elizardo.
 
"The first two times that we played against West Chester, the games were a little close for all of us, and I think that after the first goal we were all fired up," Petrantonio said. "It was like, 'Let's go, we definitely can do this.' I think that I can see that feeling in every single player I cheered the goal with. It was more of a relief, feeling that we can do it, and once we scored the first goal we can score two, three or four goals."
 
Her next goal came less than three minutes later. Shortly after WCU's Kaitlin Hatch nearly tied the score at the other end with a high shot wide of the top-left corner, SU earned another restart in the Golden Ram zone and Petrantonio again dribbled around defenders and into space, where she sizzled a shot high into the top right corner of the goal. SU's lead was 2-0 at the half.
 
Petrantonio achieved her hat trick with about 22 minutes remaining with a high velocity rip just underneath the crossbar off another offensive restart, and she closed the scoring with 6:48 remaining by slamming home a rebound on a penalty corner.
 
Shippensburg finished with 10 shots on goal and seven penalty corners while limiting the Golden Rams to just three shots on goal and four penalty corners. In the two previous meetings this season, West Chester combined for 21 shots on goal and 12 penalty corners.
 
"I think mostly that it is a mindset," Petrantonio said. "Nothing can stop us. We have to go and keep going in any conditions they present to us. The weather, the field, whatever. It's a mindset. We are here to win a championship, regardless of the conditions. We have to keep going."
 
Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Ally Mooney made three saves to record her sixth solo shutout of the season and the 23rd of her career. SU's defense was stout both along its back lines and between the 25-yard lines Thursday, as Zollinger singled out the work of the Raider midfield after the game and commended the group for their excellent play.
 
Thursday's victory is Shippensburg's eighth straight in the NCAA Division II Field Hockey Championships, improving the Raiders to 13-10 all-time in the national tournament. SU is vying to become the first team to win three consecutive NCAA Division II titles since Bloomsburg won four-in-a-row from 2006-09.
 
"Obviously we're really excited about what we just did out on the field, but we're really good at clicking back in and looking at our next game, and fortunately for us, this is the national championship game," Mooney said. "This is what we've been working toward all season. All of my teammates are going to be out there giving it their all, 100 percent of the time – in practice tomorrow and on the field on Saturday. I can't wait to see what we accomplish."
 
UP NEXT: Saturday, 1 p.m. vs. East Stroudsburg (NCAA Championship Game).