May 3
From West Chester Sports Information

WEST CHESTER, Pa. – Courtney Whiting and Jackie Baker each scored four goals as No. 4 West Chester claimed its fifth consecutive PSAC women’s lacrosse championship with a 17-8 victory over No. 5 Lock Haven Saturday afternoon at South Campus Turf Field.

The victory by West Chester (18-1) makes a return trip to the NCAA semifinals all but a formality for the Golden Rams, who have reached the national championship game in each of the last four years. It also marked the third consecutive season in which West Chester defeated Lock Haven (15-4) in the conference final. West Chester has now won 20 of the conference’s 30 women’s lacrosse championships.

Baker earned the tournament MVP award with her four-goal, one-assist performance Saturday. She scored eight goals and posted two assists in the PSAC postseason tournament, including Tuesday’s semifinal against East Stroudsburg.

Claire Grimwood also registered five points with a hat trick and two assists. Senior Stephanie Kienle scored three times and assisted on another.

Nicole Haines scored twice and picked up one assist while Gabrielle Stitz scored as well.

West Chester overcame an uncharacteristically slow start with four goals in a three-minute span midway through the opening half to take a 5-2 lead that it would never relinquish. Both of Haines’ goals came during the spurt.

After The Haven’s Jessica Blickenstaff tallied at the 10:14 mark, West Chester tied three more goals together to push its lead to 8-3. From there, the two sides traded a pair of goals the rest of the half, and the Rams went into the break with a 10-5 advantage.

Blickenstaff led Lock Haven with three points (1G, 2A). Amber Hoch scored twice, and Leigh Titus registered a goal and an assist.

Lock Haven had taken a 2-1 lead at the 16:42 mark on Hoch’s second goal of the game. Hoch also opened the scoring at the 23:27 mark to put the Eagles on top 1-0. Whiting netted the first of her game-high four tallies at 17:43 to tie the score.

Mary Beth Green made 14 saves in the cage for West Chester, backstopping the Golden Rams to their 18th straight win of the season. Kira Nuttall also recorded 14 saves for Lock Haven.

West Chester outshot Lock Haven by a 46-28 margin and held a 32-21 advantage in ground balls. Whiting picked up five ground balls and collected seven draw controls to lead the squad in both categories.

West Chester will officially find out who and when it will play on Sunday, May 4 between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. when the NCAA holds its Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Divisions II and III selection show live on CBS College Sports Network, formerly CSTV.