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WEST CHESTER, Pa.- With the 2022 regular season and a PSAC East Regular Season title now in the rearview mirror, the No. 2 ranked West Chester women's soccer team (16-0-1, 15-0-1) will shift its attention to the postseason as the PSAC Tournament kicks off tomorrow afternoon on Rockwell Field vs East Stroudsburg (9-6-3, 7-6-3) beginning at 1 p.m.
By virtue of head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley's seventh PSAC East Regular Season title, West Chester earned the top seed in the Eastern Division, while East Stroudsburg earned the fourth and final spot in the Tournament field with a draw against the Golden Rams on Saturday afternoon. The PSAC Women's Soccer Tournament semifinals and championship are scheduled to be hosted by the top seed in the PSAC West this year, meaning that the winner of this game will likely be making the trek across the state to Erie for the weekend as Gannon (PSAC West Regular Season Champion) and neighbor Mercyhurst earned the top two seeds in the Western Division. The winner of the West Chester/East Stroudsburg game will take on the winner of the Mercyhurst/Slippery Rock Quarterfinal, which is the lone other women's quarterfinal getting underway at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
Fan Information:
Parking: Fans will be required to park in Q Lot, located directly across South New Street from the Soccer Complex. Lot T, directly adjacent to Rockwell Field, will be closed to general fan parking tomorrow afternoon; however, it will remain available for handicap-accessible parking. Fans should follow signage for soccer parking on arrival to the field tomorrow afternoon.
Tickets: Tickets will be sold for all postseason events at Rockwell Field, with adult ticket prices set at $10 while student/senior ticket prices will be $5, with students from PSAC Member Institutions being admitted free with valid, current ID. The gates to Rockwell Field will open to spectators at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow in advance of the 1 p.m. Quarterfinal.
The Matchup:
West Chester and East Stroudsburg are certainly no strangers to one another, having met many times over the years, with the Golden Rams holding a 30-12-6 lead in the all-time series vs. the Warriors. The most recent meeting between the two teams came just days ago when the Golden Rams and Warriors squared off in the Regular Season finale on Rockwell Field on Saturday afternoon. In this contest, West Chester jumped out to an early lead thanks to an early first-half goal by
Julia Raybold (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) off a
Maggie Lena (Santa Monica, Cal/Santa Monica) corner. This lead held up for much of the contest before the Warriors got a late second half to even the score and escape Rockwell Field with a 1-1 draw to clinch the fourth seed in the PSAC Tournament.
West Chester, who has shown itself as one of the most dangerous offensive units in the PSAC and among the top in all of Division II this year, enters Tuesday afternoon, averaging 2.65 goals per game, having scored 45 goals in the 2022 regular season. This offensive firepower has proven to be particularly difficult for opponents to solve as the Golden Rams have been remarkably balanced throughout the year, with 16 different players scoring goals, led by a pair of seven-goal seasons from
Katelyn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) and
Jacqueline Hug (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) with freshman
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) close behind with six goals of her own.
In addition to the offensive firepower, West Chester has been among the best in Division II women's soccer defensively this season, allowing just five goals on the year for a team goals-against average of 0.29, which is second-best in all of Division II women's soccer. The Golden Rams have trailed just twice this season, with the first instance coming against Jefferson in the season opener, while the lone other team to hold a lead over the Golden Rams was East Stroudsburg in the first meeting between the two sides earlier this season on the road at ESU. In both instances, West Chester shook off the early deficit and rolled to 4-1 victories as the team completed an unbeaten regular season for the first time since 2016.
The backline, which has been comprised of senior
Deanna Lebotesis (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy), Kiley Kergides (Rydal, Pa./Germantown Academy), Jordyn Dupes (Middletown, Pa./Middletown), and Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) has played a major role in the defensive success of the Golden Rams this year, holding opponents to an average of just 7.9 shots per game on the year. When teams manage to get a clean look against the stifling Golden Ram defense, they meet another formidable opponent in senior keeper
Hayley McGee (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley). McGee enters the postseason with a record of 16-0-1 with 11 shutouts, a 0.30 goals-against average, and a .933 save percentage, both of which rank in the top five in Division II women's soccer (third and first, respectively).
For its part, East Stroudsburg enters play in search of its first win since October 19
th, when the Warriors snuck past Shippensburg by a 2-0 final inside Eiler Martin Stadium. With just 29 goals scored on the year, East Stroudsburg has not had all of the firepower it has possessed in years prior; however, the Warriors have remained a dangerous opponent thanks in part to a stellar rookie season by keeper Emmy Clarkson. Clarkson has played to a record of 8-5-3 with five shutouts in her first year of college soccer, recording a goals-against-average of 1.13 and a .804 save percentage on the year. Clarkson was nothing short of outstanding on Saturday afternoon for the Warriors in the regular-season finale against the Golden Rams, making 10 big saves to slow the West Chester offense, which is a performance she will likely need to duplicate on Tuesday for her team to be successful.
Offensively, Rebecca Kotula has been the most dangerous weapon for the Warriors this year, scoring eight goals to go along with five assists for a total of 21 points, while teammates Millie Smith and Natalie Schooley chipped in four goals each during the regular season. All told, 14 different Warriors have found the back of the net this season; however, Kotula, Smith, Schooley, and Saturday's hero Emily Wineburg (three goals) are the only Warriors who scored multiple goals during the 2022 regular season.
ESU head coach Rob Berkowitz is in for a busy day on Tuesday, as he will lead his women's team into Rockwell Field for a 1 p.m. start before returning home to lead his second-seeded men's soccer team against the third-seeded Golden Rams inside Eiler-Martin Stadium with that contest set to begin at 6 p.m.
With a Win:
Should West Chester earn a victory over East Stroudsburg tomorrow afternoon, West Chester will advance to the PSAC Semifinals, which are set to be held at the highest remaining seed in the Western Division. Gannon earned the PSAC West Regular Season title and will face Seton Hill at 4 p.m. tomorrow afternoon. In the Semifinal round, West Chester would face the winner of Mercyhurst/Slippery Rock, while the other semifinal will pit the winners of Gannon/Seton Hill and Bloomsburg/Kutztown against one another for the right to play in the Championship match on Sunday afternoon.
