Photo by: Sophia Stempinski 2026
Millersville struggles to come back from West Chester's early scoring
9/17/2026 7:00:00 PM | Field Hockey
MILLERSVILLE, Pa. --- Late scoring wasn't enough for the Maruaders as they fell 5-2 in their first conference game of the season against West Chester.
After a successful road stint last week, Millersville was riding high going into conference play winning two of three games on the road. At the beginning of the week the Marauders made their first appearance in the national rankings sitting at number 10. Sitting five places above them sat the Golden Rams which made for an anticipated match up.Â
The anticipation was diminished quickly as West Chester scores 2 goals in the first quarter, their first coming in the second minute of the game. In the 42nd minute, the Marauders found themselves with an opportunity on a corner and used it to their advantage as Lauren Kampi intakes the ball finding the stick of Zoe Angelinas for the first Marauder goal of the game.  Angelinas was then able to take advantage on a missed shot by the Golden Rams and find Alaina Culbert to score what would be the final goal of the game in the late seconds of the 44th minute.
"Just an atypical slow start for us," says head coach Shelly Behrens. "As I shared with the team, I thought we were technically soft and our structure was poor two things you cannot do when playing against any PSAC opponent."
The defense struggled throughout the game, allowing 16 shots across the 60 minutes, nine of which were on goal. Addy Arkhurst made the start in goal for the Marauders but was subbed out by Katie Hanlon in the 20th minute of the game. Hanlon managed four saves off the nine shots she faced which is a season high. The Marauders cleaned up their defense after halftime, adjusting plays are learning from the first 30 minutes of action, not allowing another goal by West Chester.
"Just some defensive miscues that started up front and [through] the midfield that put our [goalkeepers] in a tough spot," said Behrens. "Credit to the team for tidying some of the sloppy play and finding the goal twice."
West Chester has always been a tough opponent for Millersville only winning two of the 13 games played at West Chester, never having a scoring margin higher than three goals like tonight. Â
"[West Chester] is a great opponent-we were just not at our best in the first half," said Behrens. "It is up to us to clean up our play and compete as we know we can."
The Marauders look to defend their undefeated record at home this Saturday against Indiana (Pa.) at 6 p.m.
After a successful road stint last week, Millersville was riding high going into conference play winning two of three games on the road. At the beginning of the week the Marauders made their first appearance in the national rankings sitting at number 10. Sitting five places above them sat the Golden Rams which made for an anticipated match up.Â
The anticipation was diminished quickly as West Chester scores 2 goals in the first quarter, their first coming in the second minute of the game. In the 42nd minute, the Marauders found themselves with an opportunity on a corner and used it to their advantage as Lauren Kampi intakes the ball finding the stick of Zoe Angelinas for the first Marauder goal of the game.  Angelinas was then able to take advantage on a missed shot by the Golden Rams and find Alaina Culbert to score what would be the final goal of the game in the late seconds of the 44th minute.
"Just an atypical slow start for us," says head coach Shelly Behrens. "As I shared with the team, I thought we were technically soft and our structure was poor two things you cannot do when playing against any PSAC opponent."
The defense struggled throughout the game, allowing 16 shots across the 60 minutes, nine of which were on goal. Addy Arkhurst made the start in goal for the Marauders but was subbed out by Katie Hanlon in the 20th minute of the game. Hanlon managed four saves off the nine shots she faced which is a season high. The Marauders cleaned up their defense after halftime, adjusting plays are learning from the first 30 minutes of action, not allowing another goal by West Chester.
"Just some defensive miscues that started up front and [through] the midfield that put our [goalkeepers] in a tough spot," said Behrens. "Credit to the team for tidying some of the sloppy play and finding the goal twice."
West Chester has always been a tough opponent for Millersville only winning two of the 13 games played at West Chester, never having a scoring margin higher than three goals like tonight. Â
"[West Chester] is a great opponent-we were just not at our best in the first half," said Behrens. "It is up to us to clean up our play and compete as we know we can."
The Marauders look to defend their undefeated record at home this Saturday against Indiana (Pa.) at 6 p.m.
Players Mentioned
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/ Field HockeyWednesday, October 29
Saturday, October 11
Wednesday, October 08
Saturday, October 04
