WEST CHESTER, Pa. — In an instant classic between two of the top programs in Division II, the ESU women's lacrosse team defeated No. 11 West Chester, 14-13, in overtime, securing the PSAC East regular season title and the Warriors' first undefeated regular season.
 
NOTABLES

• Sadie Kauffman and Katie Bullen led ESU in scoring, each recording five points. Kauffman's came off of four goals and an assist, while Bullen had a hat trick and a pair of helpers.
• Jolee Roth and Lauren Hallman each finished with two goals, as Roth also was credited with an assist. They chipped in defensively too, as Hallman caused two turnovers and Roth forced one.
• Paige Moreland only scored one goal today, but it was the most important tally of the game, winning it for ESU in overtime. She had an assist to go along with two ground balls.
• Izzie Mintz and Ariana Tucci each found the back of the net once, rounding out the Warriors' goal scorers.
• Molly Atwell led ESU with six draw controls, and although she wasn't credited with a caused turnover, she forced rushed passes and altered a handful of shots in the defensive end. 
• Madison McBride entered the game as ESU's goalie just before halftime, making four saves and only giving up five goals.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• For the first time all season, the Warriors were trailing for the majority of the first half. The Warriors' offense took about 10 minutes to get on the board, allowing the Golden Rams to jump out to a 3-0 lead off goals from Marissa Herring, Kendall Fortune, and Avery Roberts. Kauffman got ESU into the game with her first goal of the day, but the Golden Rams responded with a pair of goals to go up 5-1 with two minutes left in the first quarter.
• Facing their largest deficit of the season, ESU finished the first half on a 6-3 run. Roth and Mintz ended the first and started the second quarters with ESU goals to make it 5-3. The two teams traded the next three goals each, as Madeline Edinger and Sydney Wasdick combined for West Chester's tallies, and Roth, Hallman, and Tucci kept ESU in it with goals of their own. The final minute and a half of the second quarter was pivotal for the Warriors, needing to respond to Wasdick's last goal that made it 8-5. Molly Atwell secured the draw control, and Tucci made it 8-6 twenty seconds later. With 30 seconds left before halftime, West Chester turned it over on a clear, leading to a fastbreak that Bullen finished, putting the Warriors down by one going into the second half.
• ESU's strong play carried over into the second half, as the Warriors would tie the game and take their first lead in the third quarter. Kauffman started the frame with a goal two minutes in, but Wasdick put West Chester back out in front. On a free-position attempt, Roth found Bullen cutting along the goal line, beating the goalie up top to tie the game again. On the ensuing draw control, Kauffman settled it in stride going into the offensive zone, motoring downhill on the fastbreak and beating the goalkeeper one-on-one to put the Warriors ahead.
• After the Warriors scored three of the first four goals of the half, the Golden Rams rattled off three straight to retake the lead with some insurance early in the fourth quarter. ESU battled back to even the score at 12-12, with Hallman and Bullen each converting on free-position shots. Audrey Miller got the lead back for West Chester, but ESU scored its third free-position goal of the period as Kauffman made it 13-13.
• With time ticking down West Chester possessed the ball for nearly the full final two minutes. On a West Chester free-position attempt, Atwell got a great jump on the whistle, recovering in time to block the shot and neutralize the chance. McBride came up huge in the waning moments of each half, coming up with a save before halftime to keep it a one-goal game, then making another stop with 10 seconds remaining to force overtime.
• Kauffman overpowered the West Chester midfielders on the opening draw of the extra period, securing possession for ESU. After a couple of chances were stopped by the Golden Rams, West Chester got its first chance to clear. However, Roth jumped a passing lane causing a turnover and drawing a card. As the penalty time was ticking down towards expiration, Kauffman saw Moreland creeping up from the goal line closer to the net, feeding the attacker down low. Moreland curled around to the middle of the field and beat Morgan Koons from point-blank range to win the game for ESU.

 
GAME NOTES

• This is the first time ESU has swept the regular season series against West Chester since the two teams first played each other in 1964.
• This is the first PSAC East regular season title for the Warriors since 2022, when they tied with West Chester at 11-1. It's their first outright regular season conference title since 2017, before the PSAC was split into two divisions.
• With her four goals today, Kauffman is tied with Kristin Restivo for second in career goals with 189. She only trails Emily Mitarotonda, whose 314 are a conference record.

 
UP NEXT
The Warriors conclude the regular season with a perfect 17-0 record, as they'll await seeding on the West side of the standings to sort out for their First Round matchup in the PSAC Tournament. The game will be played at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28.