SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University lacrosse team raced out to a two-goal lead at halftime against unbeaten No. 11 West Chester on Wednesday afternoon, but the Raiders could not stave off the Golden Rams in dropping a 17-9 decision to the visitors in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) matchup from Robb Sports Complex.
Shippensburg (6-6, 2-5 PSAC) became just the first conference team (second team overall) to hold a halftime lead against West Chester (12-0, 7-0) this season. SU yielded a goal just 70 seconds into the game but responded by keeping the Golden Rams off the scoreboard for the next 16 minutes of play. The Raiders took a 2-1 lead at the 12-minute mark and led for the majority of the first half, limiting the visitors to just 10 shots in the first 30 minutes of play.
The visitors opened the second half on an 8-0 run to take control. A tally from junior
Madi Newman ended the Golden Ram run, but WCU responded with four more goals to stem the tide. The Golden Rams got seven points each from Sami Barnett and Alex Wendig to lead all players.
Junior
Kyra Shank netted a hat trick and had an assist to lead the offensive effort, with all of her points coming in the first half. Freshman
Maddy Siejk scored twice – once in each half, while junior
Morgan Stone and freshman
Jena MacDonald added a goal and an assist. Senior
Allison Fugate also found the back of the net.
On defense, junior
Valerie Hertz maintained her incredible production with six groundballs, four caused turnovers and three draw controls. Hertz became the second player in school history to surpass 100 career caused turnovers, reaching 103 through just 44 career games. Gayle Kuntzmann maintains the SU record with 124 career caused turnovers.
Freshman
KiKi Brasher was strong in goal, making eight saves and collecting three groundballs. Senior
Caroline Carbonaro also had a pair of groundballs in the game.
At the game, the lacrosse team held a food drive. The initiative is a part of the University's
17 Days of Kindness effort in which items are being collected for the "Hound Packs" program. The food that is collected will be provided to students in the Shippensburg Area School District (SASD) for meals during the school year.
Shippensburg travels to No. 21 IUP at 1 p.m. Saturday to face the Crimson Hawks.
