No. 8 West Chester Rallies Past No. 5 C.W. Post, 18-15

The following is a press release from the Athletic Department.

Jamie Dolan sparked a seven-goal run late in the second half that fueled West Chester’s frantic come-from-behind 18-15 victory over fifth-ranked C.W. Post in a non-league women's lacrosse match at Vonnie Gros Field Tuesday afternoon.
 
The eighth-ranked Golden Rams (13-2) trailed the Pioneers (12-2), 12-8, with 21 minutes remaining when the Tori Dugan and Dolan took matters into their own hands.
 
West Chester won nine straight draw controls, seven secured by Dugan, and Dolan scored four goals during a 7-0 spurt in an eight-minute span as the Rams erased a five-goal deficit and took a 15-12 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining. Dolan finished with six goals, five in the second half, and Dugan registered a career-high 14 draw controls.
 
West Chester won the draw control battle, 21-14, in halting C.W. Post’s eight-game winning streak.
 
The Golden Rams notched 10 of the game’s final 13 tallies in the comeback win. A total of 21 goals were scored in the second half, after the Pioneers held a 7-5 advantage at the half. The 33 combined goals in the game were the most by West Chester since a 23-10 win at East Stroudsburg in 2009. 
 
Four of the Rams’ seven goals during the decisive runs came on free position attempts. West Chester was 5-for-6 in the second half on their attempts. Stacey Pellechia started the spurt with a free position goal at 20:15. Dolan then registered a natural hat trick with two of the three tallies on free position attempts.
 
After Theresa Giunta notched a goal on a free position at the 13:24 mark to give the Golden Rams their first lead since 11:20 of the first half, Dolan and Dugan capped the rally with unassisted tallies.
 
West Chester opened the game much the same way that it did against No. 1 LeMoyne one week ago at Vonnie Gros Field. The Rams scored the game’s first three goals, before C.W. Post answered with six straight markers to go up 6-3 with four minutes left in the first half.
 
Erin Oczkowski ended the run with her second goal of the game with 2:34 left. The Pioneers’ Abbie Ross then re-instated the visitor’s three-goal margin with a tally with 1:49 remaining. Dolan then scored her first of the game with 46 ticks left to send the Rams into the half down 7-5.
 
C.W. Post seemed to take control of the game out of the halftime break by scoring three straight times and jump out in front 10-5. Nan Mayott sandwiched a pair of goals around a Jacki Patterson marker that put the Pioneers on top, 11-6, with 24 minutes to play.
 
Oczkowski, Patterson and Dugan each scored three goals in the game. Dolan’s six goals and seven points led all West Chester scorers. Giunta, Pellechia and MacKenzie O’Keefe had the Rams’ other goals. Jess Henderson (13-2) made nine saves in the win. However, none were bigger than a pair of saves in the last five minutes that gave the Rams the lift they were looking for defensively.
 
Jackie Sileo finished with seven assists and nine points for C.W. Post. She now has 69 assists and 99 points on the year for the Pioneers. Olen and Ross each scored four times, Lauren Spagnoletta and Sileo tallied twice while Katie Rotan had the other marker. Goalkeeper Dominique Mosca (12-2) made 13 saves in the cage.
 
West Chester concludes its 2012 regular-season slate on Thursday with a 4 p.m. start at Kutztown. A win over the Golden Bears clinches second place in the PSAC standings and is good enough for a first-round bye into the conference semifinals the following weekend.
 
NOTES: West Chester and C.W. Post combined to score 30 goals for the second straight year … C.W. Post won last year’s contest in Brookville, N.Y., 19-11 … West Chester’s victory over C.W. Post was the first time the Rams have beaten the Pioneers since a 13-12 triumph in the 2008 national championship game … the 32 combined goals were the most in a West Chester-C.W. Post matchup since March 25, 2004 when the Pioneers topped the Golden Rams, 19-18 in triple overtime … West Chester’s 18 goals equaled the most C.W. Post has surrendered in a game this season (18 in a loss to New Haven)