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ERIE, Pa.- Following a convincing victory over Mercyhurst in the PSAC Semifinals on Friday afternoon, the No. 2 West Chester women's soccer team (18-0-1) will shift its attention to the next order of business with the PSAC Championship match on Sunday afternoon at Gannon. West Chester will shift its attention to Gannon, whom the Golden Rams will square off against at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon inside McConnell Family Stadium.
Fan Information:
Similarly, to the Semifinal on Friday afternoon, tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for students/seniors, with all sales being cash only. Additionally, McConnell Family Stadium is located in Downtown Erie; fans should allow time to locate parking in the city when traveling to the games this weekend.
The History:
When West Chester faces off against Gannon, it will be new territory for the Golden Rams active roster as the team has not advanced to the PSAC Championship since the end of the 2017 season when the Golden Rams hosted East Stroudsburg inside Rockwell Field. In the 2017 Championship match, East Stroudsburg and West Chester battled for 90 minutes, but it was a late first-half goal by the Warriors on a deflection in the box which lifted ESU to the Championship over the Golden Rams. This appearance will be the Golden Rams sixth PSAC Championship match appearance under the tutelage of longtime head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley, with the last Championship victory coming during the 2010 season when West Chester defeated Cal (Pa.) by a final of 4-3 on PKs.
West Chester and Gannon lack significant history with one another, having met 14 times over the years, with West Chester holding a 10-3-1 lead in the all-time series against the Golden Knights. West Chester did drop the last meeting against the Golden Knights in October 2018, falling by a final of 3-2 in double overtime. Prior to that meeting, West Chester had won three in a row over its western rivals, outscoring Gannon 8-1 over that stretch.
For Gannon, this will be the Golden Knights first PSAC Championship game appearance in program history after reaching the PSAC Semifinals multiple times, including their most recent appearance in the 2021 season. Gannon also reached the Semifinals in 2017, falling to West Chester in that matchup on Rockwell Field.
Flock Talk:
In the semifinal round on Friday afternoon, West Chester wasted no time in showing its offensive firepower, jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead just 10 minutes into the game thanks to an early goal by
Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) and a quick goal following that by
Jacqueline Hug (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) off an assist from Cutter. West Chester maintained this early lead for much of the remainder of the contest before eventually stretching the lead to 3-0 in the final minute of regulation thanks to a late goal by
Lauren Corless (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge).
Offensive versatility has been one of the things that has made West Chester so dangerous this season, and that was on full display once again on Friday afternoon with three different Golden Rams scoring a goal, and five different Golden Rams scored points in the semifinal victory with Cutter,
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) and
Kelli Collins (Lawrenceville, N.J./Pennington) all registering assists in the victory. With goals this afternoon, Hug passed Haughey for first on the team in goals scored with eight now on the season, while Cutter moved into fourth on the team in points with 14 on the year after posting a three-point effort with the game-winning goal and an assist this afternoon.
The Golden Ram defense continued to be a difficult unit to solve as they limited Mercyhurst to just nine shots, which is right along with the season average of 7.9 shots per game en route to the 13
th shutout of the season. West Chester saw three players from its defense earn all-league honors this year as goalkeeper
Hayley McGee (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) earned Defensive Player of the Year honors while
Kiley Kergides (Rydal, Pa./Germantown Academy) secured First Team honors with freshman teammate
Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) picking up Second Team recognition.
Getting to Know Gannon
Gannon enters the PSAC Championship game following a convincing PSAC Semifinal win of its own, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead over Bloomsburg in the opening 23 minutes. Sarah Fails, who has shown herself as one of the top scorers in the PSAC throughout the season, scored the first goal of the game in the 14
th minute before Jamie Seneca added another goal just seven minutes later on a ball that was knocked around the box after a corner kick attempt to extend the lead to 2-0. Gannon added another goal early in the second half to stretch the lead to 3-0 en route to a 3-1 victory.
Fails, who was the PSAC West Player of the Year, has been a difficult player for opponents to stop throughout the season, scoring 12 goals and adding five assists for a team and league-best 27 points on the year. Similarly to West Chester, who swept all four major awards, Gannon also took home PSAC West Rookie of the Year honors as Ella Fadale scored seven goals and added two assists for 16 points on her rookie season. The Fails and Fadale combination has accounted for 18 of the Golden Knights 38 goals this year, while nine other players have found the back of the net as well, led by four goals from assist leader Gabby Boden. In addition to her four goals, Boden has also contributed seven assists this season, serving as a great facilitator for the Gannon offense throughout the 2022 campaign.
In goal, Kennedy Solymosi has shown herself as a strong keeper for the Golden Knights, playing to a record of 11-2-4 with a 0.87 goals-against average and four solo shutouts on the year while also contributing to three others as the Golden Knights have played to a mark of 14-2-4 on the season.
Since suffering a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Pitt-Johnstown at the end of September, Gannon has been on a roll, going 6-0-2 since that match, and outscoring opponents 16-5 over that stretch of play. The UPJ loss was the only league setback of the season for PSAC West Coach of the Year Colin Petersen's Golden Knights, with the lone other loss coming against reigning Atlantic Region Champion Concord in the season opener by a 3-2 final thanks to a late Concord goal, which broke a 2-2 tie in the 85
th minute.
What's Ahead:
Following the match on Sunday, West Chester will wait and see what its NCAA Tournament fate will be as the Division II women's soccer selection show is scheduled for Monday evening at 7 p.m. with play to begin at the end of next week.
