Unlike the many other students, alumni and families celebrating Homecoming Weekend, the Mercyhurst women’s soccer team was not present to help celebrate the big football victory.

Instead, the players traveled about six hours away to the borough of West Chester, just 25 miles outside of Philadelphia, to face West Chester University and hope for their own big win.  Ranked fourth in the PSAC, the Lakers had an uphill battle to begin with facing West Chester, one of the top-five ranked teams.  Additionally, the Lakers were coming off of a 4-0 victory over Wheeling Jesuit University on Sept. 12.

Kicking off at noon on Sept. 15, the Lady Lakers were able to hold off the West Chester Rams for the first half, tying 0-0 at halftime.  “We did a great job defending in the first half,” senior co-captain Naomi James said. “We were under a lot of pressure from a strong West Chester team. We did well to hold out against the constant crosses and shots we had against us, and when we gained possession of the ball we combined really well and created attacking opportunities.”

Unfortunately, the Lakers were bested in the second half, resulting in the final score being a 4-0 loss.  With the game scoreless until over 10 minutes into the second half, the Rams’ scores were intermittent throughout the period with the exception of two goals being just over a minute and a half apart.  Nevertheless, as a whole, the team is choosing to view the game as a glass half full.
“Despite the scoreline, there are many positives to take from this game, which we’ll build on and capitalize on in our upcoming games,” said James.

On Sept. 18, the Lakers will host Daemen College with a kickoff at 4 p.m.  Additionally, on Sept. 21 at 4 p.m., the team will play Bloomsburg University. That game is away for the Lakers.