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WEST CHESTER, Pa. - No. 13 Bloomsburg held second-ranked West Chester in check for much of the afternoon, but a game-closing, five-goal run led the Golden Rams to a 12-5 win over the Huskies in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference opener for both squads.
BU held a West Chester squad scoring over 20 goals per game to its lowest output of the year and trailed by just two midway through the second half after a free position goal by Julie Falk (Millersville/Penn Manor) pulled Bloomsburg within 7-5 with 15:51 left. It proved to be as close as Huskies would get, however, as the Golden Rams held the BU offense at bay for the rest of the contest.
In the first half, the Huskies struck first as Maggie Canavan (Erdenheim/Springfield) put BU on the board less than two minutes into the action off a feed from Ashley Bossert (Ambler/Wissahickon). After West Chester rebounded to claim a 3-1 lead, Sam Mazzie (Barto/Boyertown) converted a free position shot with 11:58 to go in the period to cut the lead to a single goal.
Another three-goal run by the Golden Rams pushed Bloomsburg's deficit to four, but the Huskies used a pair of late scores to pull within 6-4 at the half. Amber Shifflett (Pasadena, MD/Chesapeake) found the back of the net with 2:45 on the clock and Kelsey Metzler (Schwenksville/Perkiomen Valley) used an assist from Canavan to find paydirt with 1:11 remaining.
The second half started as a defensive struggle with each team scoring just once in the first 15 minutes before West Chester's game-closing run.
Canavan was the only Husky with a multi-point effort, chiming in with a goal and an assist in the contest. Four players - Morgan Sheriff, Carly Ball (Lansdale/North Penn), Sara Bates (Wading River, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) and Ashley Bossert (Ambler/Wissahickon) - each had two ground balls for Bloomsburg.
Bates had four saves in goal for BU.
West Chester outshot the Huskies 32-19, but shots on net were virtually even with WCU holding just a slim 16-13 advantage.
The Huskies also held an advantage on draws with 12 draw controls, compared to just seven for the Golden Rams. Aubrey Bossert (Ambler/Wissahickon) and Falk each had four draw controls for the Huskies.
Tori Dugan had two goals, three assists, and six ground balls for West Chester.
Jess Henderson notched eight saves.
Bloomsburg falls to 2-4 overall and 0-1 in the PSAC, but all four of the team's losses have come to teams currently ranked in the top seven in Division II. West Chester upped its record to 4-0 and is 1-0 in the conference.
The Huskies head west for a PSAC contest at No. 15 Mercyhurst on March 30 at 3 p.m.
