KUTZTOWN, Pa.- The West Chester University women's soccer team (8-3-2, 8-3-1) put its latest unbeaten streak to the test on Wednesday evening with a visit to seventh-ranked and PSAC East leader Kutztown (10-0-4, 9-0-3). West Chester and Kutztown battled throughout the evening and ended in a scoreless draw, sharing the points in a crucial midweek PSAC East clash.
Tonight's result improves West Chester to 0-1-1 in the season series and at least temporarily gives the Purple and Gold sole possession of second place in the PSAC East standings, placing the Golden Rams one point (25) ahead of ESU (24), whom WCU split the season series against. East Stroudsburg was not in action tonight but will return to action on Saturday night at home against Millersville beginning at 7 p.m.
A draw was only fitting on Wednesday night as the two teams ended the evening with nearly identical lines as the Golden Rams finished the night with a 9-8 lead in shots, while Kutztown led 4-3 in shots on goal and 2-0 in corner kicks.
Both goalkeepers played well on Wednesday night as first-year
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) made four big stops in the victory, while her counterpart, Cassandra Baker, made three saves of her own to stymie the potent Golden Ram offense.
Kutztown had the first good chance of the game just under five minutes in, but the early shot by Lexy Endres went high to keep the Golden Bears off the scoreboard early.
As the half progressed, West Chester and Kutztown both had their chances, with perhaps the best chance for the Golden Bears coming in the 11
th minute when
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) saved a shot by Joslyn Stoltz for what was the first shot on goal of the game.
Later in the half,
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) generated a good chance of her own, but the shot was blocked as the game went to the half even at 0-0.
Kutztown opened the second half with steady pressure on the West Chester defense, but Keen and company were up to the task, making a pair of saves in the opening 20 minutes to keep the game scoreless.
After withstanding the early second-half pressure by Kutztown, it was the Golden Rams' turn to apply pressure to the Kutztown defense, getting a number of good chances from the 80
th minute on.
Still, Cassandra Baker made a big save on a
Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) shot in the 82
nd minute, and her defense recorded two big blocks in the 88th to keep West Chester off the scoreboard.
The Golden Bears generated a final rush in the closing seconds of regulation as Stoltz shot from distance at the buzzer, but Keen made another save, her match-best fourth on the night, to preserve the scoreless shutout.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday night at Lock Haven beginning at 6:30 p.m.
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