WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Caitlin Kelly (Coatesville, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) scored a goal and assisted on another as top-ranked West Chester staved off a late rally from No. 3 Kutztown to clinch the PSAC regular-season title with a 3-2 victory on a gloomy afternoon at Vonnie Gros Field Wednesday.
With darkness creeping in, West Chester (17-0, 9-0) found itself battling for its life when Kutztown (11-5, 6-3 PSAC) rallied from three goals down by scoring a pair of tallies late in the fourth quarter that put the home team and its fans on edge for the last five minutes. However, the Golden Rams regrouped and did not let the Golden Bears get the equalizer. The win was West Chester's 24th straight at home, dating back to 2017 and handed the Golden Rams their second straight regular-season conference crown.
How it happened:
* Kat Roncoroni (Lebanon Twp., N.J./Voorhees) tipped in a pass from Kelly while standing on the near post seven minutes into the contest to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
* Kelly then blasted a shot from 10 yards out that handcuffed Kutztown's goalkeeper and got in underneath her glove arm in the second quarter to double the home team's advantage.
* Marre Corver (Aarlanderveen, The Netherlands) then tipped a shot from
Emma Velez (Coatesville, Pa./Bishop Shanahan) past Kutztown's keeper on a designed corner play early in the fourth quarter that seemed to put the game out of reach.
* However, Kutztown came roaring back when Alyssa Donato dribbled along the baseline and flipped a shot past West Chester goalkeeper
Claire Nielsen (Wescosville, Pa./Emmaus) short side 90 seconds later.
* Olivia Blasone then cleaned up a rebound out in front in the 55th minute that pulled the Bears within a goal.
Inside the Box Score:
* Kutztown's two goals marked the most that West Chester has allowed a game this season. The Golden Rams had only allowed five goals all season heading into Wednesday's tilt.
* The teams combined for seven corners in the game (West Chester - 6; Kutztown - 1), and five of those seven came in the fourth quarter.
* West Chester held a 16-6 advantage in shots. Kutztown took four of its six shots in the fourth quarter.
Wednesday's win means that West Chester University will be the host of the 2019 PSAC Tournament semifinals and finals on Nov. 8 and 10 at Vonnie Gros Field. The championship game will be aired live on Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 1 p.m. West Chester will be the No. 1 seed in the postseason conference tournament while East Stroudsburg will be the No. 2 seed by virtue of its 1-0 overtime win Wednesday. Those two schools receive a bye into the conference semifinals. The three and four seeds will host Nos. 6 and 5, respectively, on Tuesday, Nov. 5 in first-round contests. The winners will join West Chester and East Stroudsburg in the conference semifinals that weekend.
