WEST CHESTER – Junior forward Lauren Ventrella scored a goal on either side of halftime, but No. 2 West Chester pulled away with three goals in the first nine minutes of the second half for a 5-2 win over East Stroudsburg University in PSAC East field hockey on Tuesday afternoon.
Ventrella had her first career two-goal game and senior goalkeeper Maureen Ordnung made 13 saves for the Warriors (2-7, 0-4), who play three non-conference games this weekend before hosting Millersville next Wednesday to finish the first half of PSAC East play.
Nicole Fiorilla, the reigning PSAC East Player of the Week, scored West Chester’s first two goals and three other players found the cage in the second half. Fiorilla has eight goals in eight games this season for the Golden Rams (7-1, 3-1), who are in their first season in the conference after reclassifying from Division I and suffered their only loss of the season against undefeated Bloomsburg on Sept. 13.
Ventrella scored on the first career assist from freshman forward Jessica Lawville with 3:52 left until halftime to cut West Chester’s lead to 2-1. Leah Angstadt scored 36 seconds into the second half before Ventrella scored her second goal, assisted by senior midfielder Devin Whalen, two minutes later.
Alisha Moran put the Golden Rams ahead 4-2 less than 1:30 after that, and Michele Schrift completed the scoring four minutes later to set the final margin at 5-2.
West Chester held a 31-11 advantage in shots and 13-5 advantage in penalty corners, and goalkeeper Kristin Arnold made five saves.
Ordnung ranked third in Division II with 8.4 saves per game entering the contest and her 13 saves were the third-most in 53 career starts.
ESU hosts Mercyhurst on Friday at 2:30 p.m., Slippery Rock on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Limestone (S.C.) on Sunday at 1 p.m. as part of its “Think Pink” Weekend at Whitenight Field.
Game Notes: Ventrella, an All-PSAC hurdler in track and field, leads current members of the Warriors with nine career goals . . ESU is 1-7 in its last eight games since a season-opening 5-0 win vs. Stonehill, its longest stretch with just one win since going 1-12 to open the 1985 season.
