BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – The Bloomsburg University lacrosse team went toe-to-toe with the fifth-ranked West Chester Golden Rams, but the visiting Golden Rams spoiled the Huskies' upset bid as they hung on for a 10-8 victory, Saturday afternoon. The Huskies drop to 3-2 on the year and in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East action while WCU stays perfect at 4-0 on the year and in conference play.
 
The Huskies offense was once again as balanced as possible as seven different players recorded a goal, with senior Abby Bergman (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) netting a pair to push her season total to 11. Sophomore Kelsey Clauss (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) and junior Abby Kalish (Garnet Valley, Pa./Garnet Valley) each recorded a goal and an assist for BU. The eight goals scored by BU were the second most-goals allowed by West Chester this season.
 
As impressive as the offense was for Bloomsburg, it was their defense that led the way. The Huskies caused 19 of the 25 Golden Rams turnovers, and senior Tiffany Diachynsky (Barto, Pa./Boyertown Area) led with five caused turnovers. Nine players forced at least one turnover for BU. Seniors Faith Duffy (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill West) and Erika Biehl (Springfield, Pa./Springfield) recorded three while seniors Lana Paulo (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) and Erin Gingrich (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Township) caused two each. The Huskies picked up 22 ground balls as a team and won 10 draw controls, with senior Allison Bardman (Barto, Pa./Boyertown Area) grabbing a team-best three draws.
 
Graduate student Angela DiPasquale (Paramus, N.J./Paramus) was excellent in net once again for Bloomsburg. She made seven saves, limiting the Golden Rams to a 3-for-6 day on free-position shots and picking up a pair of ground balls while causing one turnover.
 
The Huskies jumped out to an early lead as Clauss scored her third goal of the year with a low shot to beat the WCU goalie, Julianne Clemens, at the 27:23 mark. The Golden Rams answered with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead with 21:33 to play, but it was all Huskies for the rest of the half.
 
Bergman won the draw control following West Chester's second goal and immediately got her team on offense. Kalish made a cut into the crease but was fouled and awarded a free position shot. Kalish scored to picked up her fifth goal of the year and tied the ball game at 2-2 with 21:14 to play in the opening period. After Bergman won another draw, the Huskies used almost all of their shot clock, but senior Anna Dempsey (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) eventually found the back of the net at the 19:48 mark for her team-leading 13^th goal of the year to give Bloomsburg a 3-2 lead.  
 
With 16:53 to play in half, Duffy jumped in the passing lane and picked off a WCU pass to give possession to the Huskies. After a successful clear attempt, junior Kelsey Kilgallon (Spring City, Pa./Owen J. Roberts) was fouled inside the 8-meter like and successfully converted her free position attempt to push the Huskies lead to 4-2 with 15:37 to play.

West Chester sandwiched a pair of goals around Bergman's first of the game, but the Huskies had the final say in the half as freshman Madison Coyle (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) scored her first collegiate goal, a free position shot, with 3:49 left in the half. Coyle's goal extended the BU lead to 6-4 at halftime.

The Huskies came out of the break on fire, and Bergman netted her second goal of the game and 11^th of the season just 1:21 into play thanks to Clauss's assistance. Sophomore Kate Roberts (Lehman, Pa./Lake Lehman) got in on the scoring action as she converted a free position shot just over two minutes later to extend the Bloomsburg lead to 8-4.
 
Roberts' goal forced the West Chester head coach to call a time out and settle her Golden Rams. With 23:58 to play, Kelly Baumann got her chance at a free position shot and converted for her seventh goal of the year and third of the game to kick-off West Chester's climb back into the game. Just under three minutes later, Meg O'Donnell found the back of the net to cut the Bloomsburg lead to 8-5. Baumann and O'Donnell then went back-to-back on free-position goals to tie the game at 8-8 with 17:49 to play.
 
West Chester won the ensuing draw control, but Diachynsky promptly caused a turnover to get the Huskies back on offense. Bloomsburg couldn't get a shot off before turning the ball back over to West Chester. The Golden Rams offensive possession then faced the same fate as the previous BU possession; this time, the turnover was caused by Gingrich.
 
Possessions continued to bounce back and forth until the Golden Rams got into their offensive third and set up their offense. WCU's Tara Morrissey took a pass from over the net from Drew McKinney and found the back of the net for her first goal of the game and West Chester's first lead since the 21:33 mark in the first half.
 
With 11:27 to play in the game, West Chester added an insurance goal as Taylor O'Brien scored off Lindsay Monigle. After Dempsey won the following draw control for BU, Bergman had one of her best looks of the afternoon, but her shot hit just inside the far post and ricocheted back into play for Lexi Einsig of West Chester to pick up. With 1:44 to play, the Huskies had their last good look on cage, but Kilgallon's free position shot was saved by the new WCU goalie, Jessica Gorr, to preserve the 10-8 lead for West Chester.
 
Neither team could get a clean possession in the final 1:44, and the Golden Rams hung on to win, 10-8.
 
The Huskies and Golden Rams played a very balanced game. Each team committed 25 turnovers and won 10 draw controls, while WCU held a slight 24-21 advantage in shots. The Golden Rams also had the 27-24 edge in ground balls while the Huskies were 4-for-7 in free position shots, and the Rams were 3-for-6. WCU was 21-for-26 on clear attempts, and the Huskies were 19-for-24.
 
Gorr got the win in cage for WCU after coming in to start the second half. Gorr made four saves and allowed just two goals for her first win of the season. DiPasquale suffered the loss to fall to 3-2 on the year after making seven saves for the Huskies.
 
Bloomsburg will go on a short two-game road trip starting on Wednesday, March 31, as the Huskies visit Millersville University for a PSAC East contest. The opening draw is set for 4:00 pm.