Box Score

WEST CHESTER, PA - Sarah Lemieux (Dublin, OH/Dublin Coffman) had a game-high 12 saves in the net for the Crimson Hawks, but a West Chester goal with less than three minutes remaining in the second half propelled the third-ranked Golden Rams to a 3-2 win over the fifth-ranked IUP field hockey team in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action Friday.

Despite the late-game fireworks, it was all West Chester in the first half, as Kelsi Lykens scored just 58 seconds into the contest to give the Golden Rams an early 1-0 lead.

West Chester would extend its lead to two at the 17:19 mark when Michele Schrift punched in a goal, but the Crimson Hawks would have an answer. Just before the half, Anouk Sickman (Antwerp, Belgium/Lazac Cellepe) deposited her second goal of the season to trim the West Chester lead to 2-1 at the break.

The Golden Rams would maintain their advantage for most of the second half, but IUP would finally knot the game at 2-2 when Brielle Mackey (Coopersburg/Southern Lehigh) took a pass from Nicole Bruce (Clarks Summit/Lackawanna Trail) and knocked in the goal at the 66:23 mark.

Unfortunately for the Crimson Hawks, the game would not stay tied for long. Just over a minute later, Stef Pirri found Alexis Versak for what would prove to be the game-winning goal with only 2:22 remaining in the second half.

The IUP defense was superb once again, limiting the high-powered West Chester offense to just the three goals, but the Crimson Hawks were only able to muster six shots in the first half and four in the second.

With the loss, IUP falls to 4-2 on the young season. The Crimson Hawks will look to rebound tomorrow afternoon when they take on Kutztown at 1:00 p.m.