MILLERSVILLE, Pa. — Millersville University honored its eight seniors prior to Saturday's contest against No. 2 West Chester but ultimately fell to the Golden Rams, 18-8.
West Chester opened the scoring, but Ella Linthicum quickly responded with a goal assisted by Ashlyn Simonetti. After the Golden Rams added three more goals, the Linthicum–Simonetti duo struck again to end the run. West Chester scored two additional goals to close out the first quarter with a 6-2 lead.
Linthicum completed her hat trick early in the second quarter, scoring her third goal just 18 minutes into the match. PSAC leading scorer Keri Barnett extended the West Chester lead before Simonetti tallied back-to-back goals, cutting the deficit to 7-5. West Chester answered with two more goals, but Mary Moraca converted a free-position shot to bring the Marauders within three at halftime, 9-6.
"Ella had a great game, and she's just a very smart player, and she finds creases in the zone," said head coach Mike Faith. "Every time she shoots, I think it's going in. It was really great for her to get us off on the right foot and then Mary closed out the half with a big goal and a lot of momentum going into the second half."
The second half was dominated by the Golden Rams, who held Millersville scoreless in the third quarter while adding four goals of their own. West Chester extended its lead in the fourth, forcing turnovers and outscoring Millersville 5–2 to seal the victory.
"We have to protect our sticks. We focused on that, avoided getting trapped, and avoided hanging our sticks, and it was a problem today. I think it cost us a lot of opportunities on offense. Our goal is to protect our sticks, play physically, and stay out of the box. We did two out of the three, and that cost us a bunch of goals.
With the win, West Chester improves to 13-0 overall and 9-0 in PSAC East play, remaining undefeated in the season. Millersville drops to 8-5 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
The Marauders return to action on Wednesday, April 16, at 3 p.m., hosting Shepherd University in another PSAC East matchup.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
