INDIANA, Pa. –   Sixth-ranked IUP field hockey gave top-ranked West Chester all it could handle, but ultimately fell 2-1 in overtime against the Golden Rams on Saturday at Miller Stadium.
 
Valerie van Kuijck deflected a shot into the net off a penalty corner in overtime, helping West Chester remain unbeaten at 8-0 on the season.
 
IUP (6-3, 1-1) opened the scoring with a running goal from Jess Davidson early in the second quarter. West Chester responded with a penalty shot marker from Rory Strom not even one minute later and eventually took over possession in the final quarter and into overtime.
 
While the Golden Rams held a 14-4 edge in shots, both sides collected a defensive save in a highly contested top-10 conference matchup. Amanda Zaner turned aside five shots and WCU keeper Megan Gula made just one stop on the afternoon. IUP had five penalty corners in the opening quarter with WCU finishing the day with a 12-5 advantage.
 
Neither side could convert on a stretch of penalty corners in the first. Olivia Reichley ripped a chance into the pads of Gula at 12:02 and Montana Ott cleared away a Shelby Harnish chance moments later to keep the contest scoreless.
 
Davidson handled her way along the endline before slotting a chance into the cage at 17:23 for the game's opening goal and a 1-0 IUP advantage. After a foul was called in the IUP crease, the Golden Rams wasted little time leveling the score with Strom ripping the penalty shot into the top portion of the net.
 
The Golden Rams started to dictate the chances for the rest of the stanza with Zaner and the Crimson Hawk defense standing tall, keeping the game tied at one going into the half. The chances slowed considerably for both sides in the third quarter with Shelby Harnish ripping an attempt wide in the 35th minute.
 
Zaner kicked aside one final look from West Chester with time ticking away in the third. The Golden Rams continued tilting the field over the final 15 minutes of regulation. Ally Myers stepped in for a defensive save in the 51st minute with a loose ball in the middle. Cameron Smith sent one off the side of the net for the final chance of regulation with about 20 seconds remaining.
 
WCU scored just over a minute into the overtime session with heavy traffic in front off a penalty corner.
 
Up Next  
IUP returns to conference play on Saturday, October 15 with a trip to Bloomsburg for a 1:00 p.m. matchup.
 
Follow  
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP field hockey on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUPfieldhockey.
 

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