No. 8 Mercyhurst Tops No. 7 West Chester In PSAC Title Game

Box Score

ERIE, Pa. – Eighth-ranked Mercyhurst jumped out to an early lead and kept applying the pressure all afternoon en route to a 17-14 victory over West Chester in the PSAC Women's Lacrosse Championship Game at Tullio Field Sunday afternoon.
 
West Chester (17-2) will now await the NCAA Division II Women's Lacrosse Selection Show at 8 p.m. Sunday night to find out where it will go in the national tournament. Mercyhurst (17-2) will find out if the conference title, its first as a member of the PSAC, is enough to host a first-round NCAA Tournament game, or will the Lakers have to travel elsewhere as well.
 
The Golden Rams, playing in their 27th conference championship game, falls to 21-6 all-time while Mercyhurst won the crown in its fourth attempt overall and third straight appearance in the PSAC title game.
 
Kristen Vath (Milford, N.J./Delaware Valley) finished with a team-high five points (3 goals, 2 assists) while Hannah Cowan (Wilmington, Del./Ursuline Academy) scored four times. Ali Donohue (Mullica Hill, N.J./Clearview Regional) added a hat trick as well.
 
West Chester outscored Mercyhurst, 5-1, over the final 13 minutes of the contest. However, the comeback bid was a bit too late in the making.
 
The Lakers held a decided advantage in draw controls, 20-13, and forced 13 of the Golden Rams' 19 turnovers. The defensive effort that was so prevalent in West Chester's semifinal win on Friday just was not there in the championship game Sunday. Three of Mercyhurst's first seven goals were off free position attempts.
 
West Chester's Paige Mitros (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnet Valley) was credited with six saves in the cage.
 
The expected invitation to the NCAA Tournament that is sure to come later Sunday night would be the first appearance for the Golden Rams on the national stage since 2012. It would also be the first appearance in the NCAAs for every player on West Chester's roster. No senior class in West Chester history has gone all four years without playing in the NCAA Tournament since the NCAA created a Division II Tournament in 2000.