West Chester women fall in first round of NCAA lacrosse tourney

LAKELAND, Fla. - It had been three years since the West Chester University women's lacrosse team made it to the NCAA tournament. That was the longest drought in the program's history. The Golden Rams, once perennial contenders for the Final Four, had every intention of making a return trip. Unfortunately, that goal will have to wait another season.

Rollins' Megan Curry scored with 31 seconds remaining Friday to lift the fifth-seed Rollins Tars past the fourth-seeded Golden Rams, 9-8, in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Regional. Rollins (15-3) advanced to a second-round game against host Florida Southern on Saturday.

A season that was turning into something special came crashing to an end for the Golden Rams (17-3). With Rollins marking West Chester's top scorers, Ashley Pyle and Hannah Cowan, freshman Sami Barnett led the Rams with two goals. Junior Dina Cifelli scored a goal and had three assists.

West Chester also got goals from Pyle, Cowan, Erin Gallagher, Carleigh MacWilliams and Olivia Martin.

"We had a great group of seniors with the goal in mind [of returning to the NCAAs] at the beginning of the year," said West Chester coach Ginny Martino. "We did a really great job in one of the hardest conferences in the south. We beat a lot of great teams. It was a great group of girls to work with."

Rollins outshot West Chester, 26-18, and only brilliant play by goalie Paige Mitros kept the Golden Rams in the contest. Mitros had 10 saves.

"From top to bottom, we had a great effort," Martino said. "We expected the W, so it's kind of hard. It hits you hard in the end. It's tough to put in words, but a lot of little factors did us in."