Lock Haven, West Chester Advance to PSAC Title Game
For the sixth straight season, Lock Haven and West Chester will play in the PSAC championship game after both teams won their respective semfinals on Friday afternoon. Top-seeded West Chester topped No. 5 Mercyhurst 10-7 while No. 2 Lock Haven defeated No. 6 East Stroudsburg 15-7. The Golden Rams will be playing in their 11th straight title game and looking for their first title since 2008 while Lock Haven will be looking for its third straight championship.
West Chester 10, Mercyhurst 7
Tori Dugan and Claire Grimwood both recorded hat tricks to lead the Golden Rams over the Lakers. Laura Trenti led Mercyhurst with a hat trick but no other Laker scored more than one goal.
West Chester raced out to a 5-0 lead and Mercyhurst did not score until just over seven minutes remaining in the first half. The Golden Rams would never trail in the game but Mercyhurst was able to cut the lead to just one with 22:35 remaining in the second half on Trenti's third goal of the game. But from that point, West Chester finished the game on a 3-1 run, scoring three straight goals in just over a four-minute span to go up 10-6 and put the game out of reach with its strong defense shutting down the Lakers.
Lock Haven 15, East Stroudsburg 7
Allison Berger scored six goals and dished out three assists to lead the way for Lock Haven, which never trailed en route to a 15-7 win over East Stroudsburg. Jamie Uzialko and Chelsea Borrino each added two goals apiece while Elyse Fisher had a goal and two assists. Jamie Wesztergom led East Stroudsburg with three goals while Michelle Mangiaruga added two.
Lock Haven jumped out to a 4-0 lead as Berger scored the first two goals of the game. The Lady Eagles led 7-4 at the half and the closest the Warriors would get in the second half would be a two-goal deficit at the 24:48 mark on leading scorer Molly O'Hara's only goal of the game. From that point, the Eagles reeled off six straight goals in just under 10 minutes to put the game away, including four by Berger.
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regular season champion and No. 1 seeded West Chester will serve as the host for the semifinals and championship of the 2011 PSAC lacrosse tournament, which will be contested Friday and Saturday. Friday's semifinals are slated for 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. while Saturday's championship is at 1:00 p.m. The tournament got underway on Tuesday with quarterfinal matches on campus sites and both road teams, East Stroudsburg and Mercyhurst, came away with victories to advance to the semifinals.
Lock Haven is the two-time defending champion on this tournament and will be looking to win three straight titles for the second time in school history. The Lady Eagles won three straight from 1979-81 in the first three editions of the PSAC lacrosse tournament. Lock Haven, with its five all-time PSAC titles, ranks second to West Chester for the most championships in PSAC history.
The Golden Rams will be looking for their first championship since 2008 when they knocked off Lock Haven. In fact, the Rams and Eagles have played in the championship game in each of the last five seasons. West Chester won five straight championships from 2004-08 before Lock Haven went on its current run. The Golden Rams own 20 all-time PSAC championships, the most in PSAC history.
Mercyhurst is making its third appearance in the PSAC Tournament in this, its third year in the PSAC, and its second semifinal appearance in the last three seasons after knocking off Bloomsburg 13-10 in Tuesday's quarterfinals. East Stroudsburg is making its first semifinal appearance since 2008 and its second straight PSAC Tournament appearance. On Tuesday, the Warriors won their first postseason match since 1986 when the topped Gannon 16-8. Both the Lakers and Warriors will be looking for their first PSAC title in school history.
2011 PSAC Lacrosse Tournament
Tuesday, April 26 (at campus sites)
(6) East Stroudsburg 16, (3) Gannon 8
(5) Mercyhurst 13, (4) Bloomsburg 10
Friday, April 29 (at West Chester)
(5) Mercyhurst at (1) West Chester, 1:00 p.m.
(6) East Stroudsburg vs. (2) Lock Haven, 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 30 (at West Chester)
Mercyhurst/West Chester vs. East Stroudsburg/Lock Haven, 1:00 p.m.