Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 4/18/21
From Press Release
Taylor O’Brien (Emmaus) ignited a late four-goal run, and Lindsay Monigle (Cape Henlopen-DE) finished it off with two daggers in the final eight minutes as fourth-ranked West Chester came from behind to defeat No. 10 East Stroudsburg, 12-10, on a windy and cool Saturday afternoon at Vonnie Gros Field.
The win puts West Chester (9-0, 9-0 PSAC East) in the driver’s seat of the Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Golden Rams are essentially three games up in the league standings – by virtue of its season sweep over East Stroudsburg (7-2, 7-2) – with three left to play in the regular season.
O’Brien’s fourth tally of the year with 8:49 left in the game pulled West Chester even at 10-apiece. Monigle took it from there, scoring nearly one minute later and then adding an insurance marker with five minutes to go that sealed the Warriors’ fate. She finished with four goals on the afternoon.
“The younger players are coming in and playing like seasoned veterans,” West Chester head coach Ginny Martino said afterwards. “Being able to put fresh legs into that midfield and provide that spark makes a world of difference.”
Freshman Hannah Stanislawczyk (Gov. Mifflin) also scored four times in the win. Her back-to-back goals in the final two minutes of the first half drew West Chester even at 6-6 heading into the break. She then started the four-goal run at the end of the second half with her fourth of the day and 25th of the season at 15:19 that drew the Golden Rams within striking distance at 10-9. Her goal just four minutes earlier had also put the hosts within one (9-8) momentarily.
East Stroudsburg’s Brielle Curtis (3 goals) pushed the Warriors’ lead back to a couple (10-8) with 16:27 to go. However, West Chester’s defense shut the door at that point and did not allow another shot to get past goalkeeper Julianne Clemens (Springfield-Delco). Clemens made six saves in the win.
Curtis paced the Warriors offense with four points on three goals and an assist. Bailey McMaster (Garnet Valley) and Gianna LeDuc each found the back of the cage twice, while Shannon Dent (1G, 1A), Kiki Fitzpatick (2A) and Emily Mitarotonda (1 G, 1A) also posted two points. Olivia Wenrich also registered a goal to round out the scorers.
“I think the key was just settling down and making better decisions with the ball,” West Chester head coach Ginny Martino said afterwards. “l needed to bring them in and let them know that there was still a lot of time left on the clock. But, we needed to begin chipping away and cleaning up our end and do the simple things you need to do to be successful.”
Grad student and preseason Inside Lacrosse All-America defender Molly Reinhart (Wilson) scooped up six ground balls and caused four turnovers.
Fellow fifth-year teammate, Tara Morrissey (Bishop Shanahan) scored a pair of goals. Fifth-year attacker Tatum Altman dished out three assists – none more important than her feed to O’Brien with just under nine minutes to play.
East Stroudsburg rattled off four straight tallies over a 13-minute span early in the contest to open up a 4-1 lead. The Warriors would not relinquish that lead until eight minutes remained in the game. West Chester pulled even on two separate occasions, but did not get over the hump until that late surge.
Warriors’ goalkeeper Tatyana Petteway (7-2) made 12 saves in a losing effort.
West Chester looks to wrap up the Eastern Division and a bye in the first round of the 2021 PSAC Women’s Lacrosse Tournament at Shepherd University on Tuesday at 4 p.m.