MILLERSVILLE, Pa. – The Marauders concluded their 2023 season on Saturday afternoon against the No. 1 Golden Rams at Biemesderfer Stadium. Despite the 24-12 loss, Millersville was one of three teams this season to score double-digit goals against the Golden Rams and recorded the most goals scored against West Chester this season with 12. The Marauders finish with a 9-8 overall record while going 6-6 in PSAC play, and West Chester's record remains untouched as they improve to 17-0 overall and 12-0 in the PSAC East.
"We entered today with a mindset that we wanted to prove we were better than our first go around with West Chester," said head coach Kaitlyn Hafdell. "We knew there was no postseason action to play for, but this last game was for us to focus on our personal team goals. We wanted to make sure everyone left the field feeling accomplished and felt they gave it their all."
Millersville's 12 goals were produced by Hayden Corcoran, Rachel Keeney, Ella Linthicum, Liv Genovese, Ashlyn Simonetti, and Charlotte Lasak. Corcoran finished her final game with four goals scored from five shots on goal. Keeney, Linthicum, and Genovese tallied two goals each while Simonetti and Lasak would score one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Golden Rams jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first quarter. Millersville was within two goals of West Chester after Keeney scored with 5:44 remaining, but the Golden Rams offense produced four goals before the quarter would end to create a four-goal lead.
- West Chester outscored Millersville 8-4 in the second to keep distance from Millersville. The Golden Rams took 13 shots with four falling on goal and grabbed their game-high of draw controls with nine.
- Keeney and Corcoran would score first in the third quarter for Millersville to trial 16-8. The Golden Rams would tally two consecutive goals to maintain their 10-goal lead. The Marauders would score twice under 1:13 of action, but West Chester would end the third quarter with a goal at 0:04.
- The Golden Rams outscored Millersville 5-2 in the fourth to claim their 24-12 victory. Genovese would tally Millersville's 11th with 9:54 remaining and Lasak would record the last goal for Millersville with just over a minute till the final buzzer.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Corcoran fired off a team-high of seven shots and led the Marauders in ground balls with four.
- Keeney won eight of Millersville's 17 draw controls and Genovese grabbed seven.
- The Marauders goalkeeper, Morgan Scott, recorded 11 saves on the day.
- Millersville was awarded one free position attempt which was taken by Genovese.
- West Chester held the edge in shots (47-28), draw controls (23-17), and free position shots (6-1).
- The Marauders scooped up 19 ground balls compared to 13 for West Chester.
FINAL THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH KAITLYN HAFDELL
"We had a very good run this season, especially with a younger team. It was really great thing to see how we can improve throughout the season and game-by-game. Now that we have a full season under our belt, we are going to continue to get better. We are losing some impactful seniors, but we have a great group of freshmen coming in along with our base our returners. I'm very excited for next fall!"