Oct. 9, 2009

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - West Chester opened up conference play with a 4-2 victory over La Salle in the Atlantic 10 field hockey opener for both teams on Friday at Hank Devincent Field. Freshman Rebecca Chylack, who scored the Explorers' first goal, set a program record for points by a freshman with 19.

The Golden Rams (6-6, 1-0 A-10), who snapped a six-game losing skid with the victory, opened the scoring in the 11th minute when Melissa LeNoir found the back of the cage. Kristen Foore added another WCU tally at the 30:03 mark to put the visitors ahead, 2-0.

La Salle (4-9, 0-1 A-10) took advantage of a penalty corner to cut the deficit to one. Junior Beth Carey sent the ball to senior Haley Froshour, who stopped it for Chylack. For the eighth time this season, Chylack blasted a shot into the back of the cage to make it 2-1 two minutes before halftime.

In addition to setting the single season record for freshmen at La Salle, Chylack's 19 points are ninth on the all-time list at the school. Carey's eight assists this season and her 17 career helpers are good for fourth at La Salle. She also leads the Atlantic 10 in the category.

Leah Angstadt scored on a penalty corner two minutes into the half and LeNoir added her second of the day at the 41:37 mark to give the Golden Rams a comfortable lead. Senior Kara Harpel scored on a 15-yard backhand shot in the 50th minute and the Explorers kept the pressure on but came up short. Harpel moves into seventh on the career goal list (25) and remains in sixth in career points (54).

Junior Emma Ruth made four saves for La Salle while Joelle Zarefoss stopped eight shots for West Chester.

WCU held a slim 16-15 advantage in shots, while La Salle had seven corners to WCU's three.

La Salle will play its final non-conference game of the season on Sunday at 1 PM when it hosts Villanova.