Box Score
WEST CHESTER, Pa. – West Chester University’s young women’s soccer squad found out how abruptly a season can come to an end as PSAC rival Indiana University (Pa.) stunned the fifth-ranked Golden Rams, 1-0, in the second round of the Atlantic Regional NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Tournament on a balmy and sunny Sunday afternoon at South Campus Field.
IUP (14-6-2) advances to the third round, the Atlantic Regional Final, to take on California (Pa.), who defeated Kutztown, 2-0, Sunday in Kutztown, Pa. West Chester (19-2-1) suffered its first loss at home this season.
“I am in shock,” IUP head coach Adel Heder said after the match. “I was afraid that she was going to pass the ball. I wanted her to shoot. I knew if she kept the ball low, that it would have a chance to go in.”
The shot that Heder referred to came off the foot of his daughter, Viann Heder, with 2:19 to play and was perfectly placed in the upper right-hand corner of the goal off a direct kick from 25 yards out.
“I was actually going to cross the ball,” Viann said afterwards. “But, everyone kept screaming, ‘take it, take it.’ I still can’t believe we won. I still can’t believe we are moving on.”
West Chester held a 15-9 advantage in shots and an 8-1 edge in corner kicks. However, the Golden Rams could not beat IUP goalkeeper Kelly Brennan all day. Brennan made just two saves in net as West Chester squandered its chances to take a lead.
“We dominated the play,” Kempf Townsley said. “But, obviously, you have to put the ball in the net. We had our opportunities today. We just didn’t capitalize on those opportunities. I thought that in the first half, we just were not getting behind their defense enough.
“In the second half, we were creating more opportunities. But, credit IUP. They fought to the very end and capitalized on their opportunity.”
Lyndsie Bernardini, rookie of the year in the PSAC Eastern Division, made four saves in goal in the loss for West Chester.
NOTES: Both the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the Atlantic Region fell on Sunday with Cal topping Kutztown in the other Atlantic Region semifinal … third-seeded Cal will take on fourth-seeded IUP next Friday in the third round of the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Tournament in Albany, N.Y. on the campus of the College of Saint Rose, who is the top-seed in the Northeast Region … the Atlantic Region semifinal was a rematch of the PSAC semifinal with the opposite results from one week ago … IUP ended a personal nine-game losing streak to West Chester, dating back to 2001, with the win … West Chester saw its 12-game home win streak and 16-game unbeaten streak on South Campus Field’s natural grass surface come to an end … West Chester is now 8-6-2 all-time in seven NCAA Division II Tournament appearances.
