Box Score  l  Photo Gallery

EAST STROUDSBURG - No. 19-ranked East Stroudsburg University pushed No. 7 West Chester to double-overtime before falling, 9-8, in PSAC lacrosse on Wednesday afternoon at Whitenight Field.

ESU (12-4, 7-4), looking for its third win vs. West Chester (14-1, 10-1) in program history and first since 2003, rallied from a two-goal deficit in the second half but saw Kristen Vath score the game-winner on a free position shot 3:55 into the second OT.

Senior attack Kaitlynn Wiltraut, redshirt junior midfielder Jamie Zimmer and junior midfielder Emily Fitzsimmons scored two goals each, senior attack Lauren Nunes had a goal and an assist, freshman attack Taylor Jefferis scored a goal and senior midfielder Whitney Wilkinson added an assist for ESU.

Hannah Cowan had three goals and an assist and Dina Cifelli had two goals and two assists to lead West Chester.

Both goalkeepers - ESU redshirt junior Jessica Maxwell and WCU's Paige Mitros - made 12 saves.

Maxwell had five of her 12 saves in overtime, including four in the first OT session.

West Chester held a 15-7 advantage in draw controls and a slight 26-25 edge in shots. ESU held a 24-19 margin on shots in regulation. WCU was 3-for-9 and ESU was 2-for-7 on free position attempts.

The score was tied 3-3 at halftime after Wiltraut opened the scoring for ESU 3:31 into the contest. Zimmer scored from Wilkinson for a 2-1 lead at the 11:12 mark, and after two WCU goals by Cowan, Nunes converted a free position to tie it at 3-3 with 2:19 left before halftime.

WCU scored three of the first four goals of the second half to lead 6-4 with 21:28 remaining around an ESU goal by Jefferis (from Nunes).

Zimmer scored on a rebound with 19:40 remaining, and Fitzsimmons leveled the game at 6-6 with a free position goal with 12:18 showing.

Cowan gave WCU a 7-6 lead just 11 seconds later, but the Warriors tied it on a goal by Wiltraut with 11:30 left and went ahead 8-7 as Fitzsimmons scored with 6:54 left.

WCU's Ashley Pyle tied the game at 8-8 with 5:53 remaining.

West Chester won the ensuing draw control but turned it over with 4:30 left, and ESU maintained possession for almost the rest of regulation. A shot by Wiltraut was saved by Mitros with 24 seconds left, and WCU managed a shot by Caroline Kuchinsky that was just wide with a second remaining.

Maxwell made four saves in the first overtime as West Chester had almost all of the ball, winning both draw controls.

ESU won the draw to start the second overtime but Wiltraut was saved by Mitros two minutes into the session. The Warriors captured the mid-period draw as well, but a turnover and a foul gave Vath her free position chance, which she converted.

ESU has dropped 22 straight vs. West Chester since a 14-13 win in 2003. The Warriors also won 7-6 in 2000, with WCU improving to 67-2 in the all-time series.

ESU, in the hunt for one of the final two spots in the PSAC Tournament, travels to No. 14 IUP (11-5, 9-2) for its final regular season game on Saturday.