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ALBANY, N.Y.- On the heels of its eighth Regional Championship in program history and sixth under longtime head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley, the West Chester women's soccer team (21-0-1) has turned its attention to its next opponent in East Region Champion, Franklin Pierce, who knocked off top-seed College of St. Rose in the East Region final on Friday night.
With a victory on Sunday afternoon, on what is projected to be a cold and windy afternoon in Albany, West Chester will punch its ticket to the National Semifinals for the first time since 2006, when the team went 23-1-0, falling to Metro State in overtime in the National Semifinals. West Chester would also be the first PSAC team to advance to the National Semifinals since Kutztown, whom West Chester defeated in the Regional Championship on Friday, did so in 2016.
The Matchup
West Chester is 1-2 all-time vs Franklin, with all three known meetings coming in the NCAA Tournament. West Chester and FPU have not met since Head Coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley's first season in 2007, when the Ravens earned a narrow 1-0 win over the Golden Rams to prevent WCU from making it second consecutive National Semifinal appearance. This 2007 victory for Franklin Pierce also gave the Ravens a measure of revenge, knocking off the team that had beaten them the year prior in the same circumstances to advance to the National Semifinals.
How They Got Here
West Chester and Franklin Pierce both had exciting, high-stress wins yesterday in the Regional Finals to set up this matchup as WCU scored in the 89
th minute for the second game in a row to earn the victory, while Franklin Pierce needed overtime to get past top-seed St. Rose. After
Jacqueline Hug (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) played the hero in the Regional Semifinal win over West Virginia State a week ago, it was
Kiley Kergides (Rydal, Pa./Germantown Academy) turn to take center stage on Friday afternoon, scoring the game-winner with just over a minute left in regulation on a free kick, following a foul drawn by Hug just outside of the box, during what had been a tightly contested game throughout.
For Franklin Pierce, the Ravens scored first on Friday afternoon vs St. Rose, scoring the first goal of the game in the 38
th minute, which St. Rose quickly matched, scoring a goal of its own just one minute and 29 seconds later to even the score at 1-1. This is how the game would stay for the remainder of regulation, forcing overtime to decide a winner, marking the second time in a row in which FPU had to go past regulation time to advance in the Tournament. After advancing on PKs a week ago after trading OT goals with Bridgeport, FPU scored first in the first overtime, finding the back of the net just three minutes in off a stellar counter-attack, which included a perfect, high-arcing cross across the box to give the Ravens the OT lead. St. Rose attempted to duplicate the comeback, which Bridgeport nearly pulled off, searching high and low for the equalizer, but the Ravens defense was up to the task, holding their hosts to just one shot in the 96
th minute en route to the 2-1 victory.
Flock Talk
Late-game heroics have been a theme for West Chester in the Golden Rams postseason run, winning three of their five postseason games on a goal in the final 10 minutes of regulation, including both NCAA Tournament wins in the final minute. The heroics have come from a variety of sources, as
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) scored the late-winner in the PSAC quarterfinal win over ESU while it was Hug and then Kergides who came through late in the NCAA Tournament wins over West Virginia State and Kutztown.
In goal,
Hayley McGee (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) has continued her historic season in the NCAA Tournament, currently working on a 360-minute-plus shutout streak, having not allowed a goal since the PSAC Quarterfinals while also earning her 21
st win of the year a day ago, which tied Hilary Smart's 2006-record for the most wins in a single season.
Reading on the Ravens
Franklin Pierce enters play on Sunday afternoon with a record of 16-3-3 after navigating a treacherous NE10 schedule throughout the 2022 season. The East Region title is Franklin Pierce's first Regional Crown in 15 years, dating back to the 2007 season when the Ravens advanced to the National Semifinals with a narrow win over Kempf-Townsley's Golden Rams.
On the year, Franklin Pierce has scored 41 goals with 13 different players finding the back of the net, showcasing offensive versatility similar to that of the Golden Rams. Of the 13 goal scorers, 10 have scored two goals or more this season, including the trio of Salome Kerguillec, Aino Martikainen, and Jasmine Perez Acosta, who are all tied for the team lead in goal-scoring with six each. Friday night's hero, Hailey Goodman, notched her first goal of the year and picked a great time to do so, coming through in the 93
rd minute to lift Franklin Pierce to the upset victory.
In another similarity to West Chester, the defense has been an area of strength for Franklin Pierce this season, holding opponent's offenses largely in check throughout the year, thanks in large part to a 0.67 goals-against average posted by starting keeper Emilie Fox. Fox, who has been the primary starter for Franklin Pierce throughout the season, has played to a 12-2-3 record on the year while sharing time with Gabby Calidonio, who has posted a record of 4-1-0 with a 1.28 goals-against average on the season.
If there is an area to be concerned about as a Franklin Pierce fan entering play on Sunday, it would be that the Ravens have surrendered at least one goal in each of their last six games, including a pair of goals vs. Bridgeport in the Regional Semifinal. The majority of the goals Franklin Pierce has allowed during this stretch have come within five minutes of a score of their own, including three-of-four goals allowed in the NCAA Tournament, suggesting some defensive vulnerability in the minutes shortly after scoring a goal.
With a Win
With a victory tomorrow afternoon, West Chester would improve to 22-0-1 on the year and, in doing so, advance to the National Semifinals at the DII Fall Festival in Seattle the first weekend in December. West Chester's last National Semifinal appearance also came during the first DII Festival back in 2006 when the Golden Rams went to Pensacola, Florida, at the end of that season.
