West Chester successfully defended its Mason Dixon conference title, defeating North Carolina 58-5 in yesterday’s final. The Golden Rams were eager for some competition that would accelerate its build-up toward nationals, and by the second half of the title bout, West Chester was playing the clinical game it will need going forward.

In retrospect, Saturday was the more difficult match. UVA was physical and aggressive in contact, and the result was a 35-20 decision to West Chester.

“We kept our full starting side in against UVA,” West Chester coach Tony DeRemer said after his 101^st varsity win. “I thought we were going to work with the wind in the second half, and that would open it up for us a little bit – and that’s when I thought I could work in the subs – but it didn’t. UVA turned it up in the second half, put a lot of pressure on us, and we couldn’t get going.”

DeRemer respected the opposition but was more complimentary of his team’s resiliency. The West Chester defense stood up to the UVA surge, and the strength of the team's fitness helped sustain the win. Afterward, WCU took in North Carolina’s game against Virginia Tech and noted the Tar Heels’ game plan.

“They were actually feeling pretty confident about Sunday,” DeRemer remembered Sunday pre-game. “Before the final, I was surprised how calm the girls were. They looked really relaxed and ready to go on Sunday. I think I was more nervous than they were.”

West Chester had a good game plan that accounted for some of North Carolina’s threats, one of which was high-scorer Naya Tapper.

“UNC likes to get the ball to Naya and put her in space,” DeRemer said. “So our game plan was to slow down the ball at the point of contact, so they couldn’t get quick-ball out to her and our defense had time to move out. We executed that plan really well. And we had a few people on Naya all day, so she couldn’t get anywhere.”

West Chester led 22-5 at the break, thanks to tries from prop Arielle Gantt, wing Sophia Schwab, Anna Bocchino and No. 8 Erin Gallagher, while flyhalf Katie Walston added a conversion. But Saturday had taught the team not to get ahead of itself, and some adjustments were needed in the second stanza.

“I was worried going into Sunday because we hadn’t really put anything together team-wise,” DeRemer reflected on the semifinal. “The first half [against UNC] started out like Saturday – the forwards were picking-and-going, even though North Carolina’s defense was concentrated around the ruck. We were attacking them in the wrong way. We talked about it at halftime, that we needed to move the ball more, so we did that in the second half.”

West Chester started to move the ball away from the contact area and UNC’s defense, and that’s when the overloads started appearing more regularly. The space started to open up, and speedy wing Schwab was eager to take it. She ended the day with four tries. The pitch got even wider as UNC’s frustration turned into two yellow cards – one of which went to Tapper for repeated high tackles. Aalea Ray scored two tries, Kara Garzon added one, and Walston ended the day with four conversions.

West Chester’s well knowns, the All Americans, performed to their standard, and DeRemer acknowledged the hard work of players like No. 8 Erin Gallagher, who scored three tries on the weekend, and “has turned it on in the past year,” according to the coach. Schwab also couldn’t be ignored. The sophomore soccer transplant is a nice finisher out wide, and she’s starting to understand the game better. And finally, former All American Arielle Gantt is a great force in the front row and “gets the team going forward,” praised DeRemer.

West Chester will know its fate at nationals in the next day or so, but the Mason Dixon champion would, presumably, head to Pittsburgh for the Round of 16. The inclusion of UVA and/or North Carolina will also be announced with the seeds and locations.