WEST CHESTER, PA – Kathleen Sheehan scored eight times and Katelyn Martin pounded in nine goals as the West Chester University women’s lacrosse team captured the 2004 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Championship Saturday afternoon on WCU’s South Campus Field.
The victory assures the Golden Rams of their third trip in the past four years to the NCAA Division II National Championship which will take place in Orlando, FL, May 13 & 15. The official announcement will come Sunday night at 8:30 p.m., but the Golden Rams are the number one team in the South Region with a perfect 17-0 regional record. Overall, WCU is 17-2, while Bloomsburg ends the year 9-9.
The PSAC title is the fifth under seven-year head coach Ginny Martino and 16th for the program since the PSAC instituted the championship back in 1983. The Golden Rams have competed in the PSAC for 18 seasons, winning the PSAC Championship from 1983-87, 1992-99, 2001-02 and now 2004. WCU did not compete in the PSAC from 1988-91 and has only failed to make the conference title game once (2000) in school history.
The victory over Bloomsburg on Saturday exacted some revenge from last season when the Huskies defeated WCU by a goal in the PSAC Championship. Two years ago, WCU beat Bloomsburg by a goal, eventually marching to the NCAA Division II National Championship.
On Saturday, the Golden Rams and Huskies began the day with a defensive struggle as the two clubs were tied 5-5 at intermission. However, the second half produced an astonishing 31 goals, including a six-goal run in a four-minute span late in the second half that rallied West Chester past Bloomsburg.
The Huskies took a 15-13 lead with 9:44 left in regulation when Danielle Yeager tallied her fifth goal of the game, but then West Chester exploded on a 6-0 run from 9:05 to 4:58 and closed out the game by outscoring Bloomsburg 10-3 in the final nine minutes.
Sheehan scored her eighth and final goal of the game at 9:05 to begin the streak, giving her 84 for the season. Her total is a single-season record that was previously held by Erika Baker (82) in 1993. She is now tied for third all-time at WCU with Sarah Harris for career goals (174).
Katelyn Martin wound up scoring five times over the final 6:06 of the game to register the second-high single-game total in school history. Her nine goals elevated her total to 67 on the season – the fifth highest total in school history.
Kirstin McGoldrick scored four times with three assists, giving her 40 assists on the year. Her total is the third highest in a single season.
The Golden Rams began the game with two quick unassisted goals from Sheehan, but Bloomsburg reeled off three straight scores to take a 3-2 lead.
It was Sheehan again, this time tallying at 13:56 and 8:32 to put WCU up 4-3, but Bloomsburg countered again with two goals to move ahead 5-4.
Martin took a feed from Caitlin Pettit at 2:16 of the opening half to tie the score, but Bloomsburg held the advantage for most of the second half.
Sheehan was selected the game's MVP for the second time in her career after winning the honor in 2002.
Bloomsburg (9-9) vs. West Chester Univ. (17-2)
Date: May 01, 2004 Location: West Chester, PA Stadium: South Campus
Attendance:200 Start time:1 pm End time:3 pm Total time:2:00
Score by period 1 2 Tot
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Bloomsburg.......... 5 13 - 18
West Chester Univ... 5 18 - 23
Bloomsburg SCORING: GOALS: Yeager, Danielle 6; Zilinski, Shelia 6;
Carinci, Georgia 5; McFatridge, Allison 1.
ASSISTS: Carinci, Georgia 2; Childs, Ashley 1.
West Chester Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Katelyn Martin 9; Kathleen Sheehan
8; Kirstin McGoldrick 4; Caitlin Pettit 1; Danielle Roy 1.
ASSISTS: Kirstin McGoldrick 3; Christa Somits 2; Neilly Oliver 1;
Caitlin Pettit 1; Kathleen Sheehan 1.
Bloomsburg GROUND BALLS: None.
West Chester Univ. GROUND BALLS: None.
SHOTS - BLOOM-L 25; WCU-WLX 34.
SHOTS ON GOAL - BLOOM-L 25; WCU-WLX 34.
FACEOFFS - BLOOM-L 0-0; WCU-WLX 0-0.
GOALIES - BLOOM-L: Shultz, Linda na (60:00 minutes, 34 shots-11 saves,
23 GA); WCU-WLX: Christina Ferenchak (08:47, 4-0, 4) , Jennifer Roman
16-2 (51:13, 21-7, 14).
Start time: 1 pm Finish time: 3 pm Length of game: 2:00
Officials:.
A-200 T-2:00
West Chester wins its 16th PSAC Championship...WCU and Bloom faced off for the third straight year...WCU will now compete in the NCAA II
National Championship Tournament in Orlando, FL May 13 & 15... Kathleen Sheehan named MVP...sets goal mark