KUTZTOWN, Pa.- Following its sixth Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Tournament Title and second in as many years, the West Chester University women's soccer team (14-3-3) is preparing to kickoff the NCAA Tournament on Friday afternoon at Kutztown in a third-seed vs sixth-seed matchup against Frostburg State (17-2-2).
On this stage a year ago, West Chester completed an impressive run through the NCAA Tournament, advancing to its first National Championship game in program history before falling to Western Washington by a 2-1 final. In order to reach the Championship, West Chester earned 1-0 victories over West Virginia State and Kutztown to capture the Atlantic Region crown before toppling Franklin Pierce and Ferris State by 2-1 finals to reach the National Championship.
West Chester returns to Kutztown with good memories of Keystone Field, having just wrapped up its latest Conference Championship on it over the weekend with a 2-1 semifinal victory over Mercyhurst in overtime before dispatching Gannon by a 2-1 final in the Championship game on Sunday. West Chester has not lost a game on Keystone Field since the end of the 2019 season when the team fell to Kutztown by a 2-1 final in the last game of the regular season.
FAN INFORMATION
Similar to the PSAC Tournament a week ago, this week's NCAA Tournament will be a ticketed event with prices set at $8 for adults and $5 for students with ID, seniors, and children 2-12. Fans are encouraged to purchase their tickets online via this
link.
FIRST TIME FOES
West Chester and Frostburg State will meet in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in their respective histories on Friday afternoon as the Golden Rams make their Division II record-setting 20
th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. In contrast, Frostburg State returns to the field for the second straight year after joining DII in 2019. In its first NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago, Frostburg State faced off against Kutztown, falling to the Atlantic Region Finalist Golden Bears by a 3-0 final in a First Round game in Erie.
THE BRACKET
West Chester enters the NCAA Tournament as the third-seed, heading to the home of second-seed Kutztown for the opening weekend. West Chester will be the first team in action at Kutztown on Friday to get the 2023 edition of the NCAA Tournament underway beginning at 3 p.m. against Frostburg State before Kutztown takes the field at 6 p.m. against seventh-seed and 2021 Atlantic Region Champion Concord. The winner of these matchups will battle on Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. for the right to extend the season past Thanksgiving with the Atlantic Region Championship game against the winner of the Charleston/Gannon/Mercyhurst pod set for the first weekend in December at the home of the highest remaining seed in the Atlantic Region.
FLOCK TALK
With this season's NCAA Tournament appearance, West Chester and Grand Valley State passed Franklin Pierce (1992-2010) for the longest Tournament appearance streak in Division II history, extending the run to 20 years. 16 of those 20 appearances have come under the watchful eye of head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley, who has played a major role in helping West Chester post a record of 23-15-8 in its NCAA Tournament history.
No stranger to NCAA Tournament games, the Golden Rams senior class of
Jacqueline Hug (West Chester, Pa./Unionville), Julia Raybold (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), Jordyn Dupes (Rydal, Pa./Germantown Academy), and Kelli Collins (Lawrenceville, N.J./Pennington Prep) of 5-2-1 in NCAA Tournament games, helping West Chester extend its streak of Regional Championship game appearances to three years in a row dating back to the 2019 season. West Chester has played for the Atlantic Region Title five times in the last six seasons, with the lone exception being the 2018 campaign when the team fell in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
After earning PSAC East Rookie of the Year honors in 2022,
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) picked up right where she left off in 2023, earning PSAC East Player of the Year honors after scoring 10 goals and assisting on 11 others for a total of 31 points on the season. With this impressive sophomore campaign, Matter has already moved into the top five in career assists, providing 20 helpers, while also moving into 10
th in career points with 56 on her career. 2022 PSAC East Player of the Year,
Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter), enters the NCAA Tournament after earning PSAC Tournament MVP honors, following a PSAC Tournament, which saw her score a pair of goals and assist on another to help lead the Golden Rams offensively. Following this effort, Haughey ranks fourth on the team in scoring, as the fourth of five Golden Rams with over 10 points on the year, entering the Tournament with five goals and two assists to her credit.
Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) and Hug are just ahead of her in scoring, ranking second and third with 17 (7 G 3 A) and 14 (3 G 8 A), respectively.
Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), who played the hero in the Golden Rams PSAC Championship triumph over Gannon, is the final Golden Ram north of 10 points on the year, entering the NCAA Tournament with four goals (all of which have been game-winners) and three assists for 11 points on the season.
Defensively,
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) has led an excellent defense for the Golden Rams once again this season, posting a record of 14-3-3 with 10 shutouts and a 0.80 goals-against average. Keen posts a .835 save percentage on the season, registering 81 stops so far this season, just 11 saves shy of 12th in single-season history (Ryan Levine-92; 2002). The backline, which has been comprised of a combination of First Team All-Conference selection
Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North), 2022 United Soccer All-American
Kiley Kergides (Rydal, Pa./Germantown Academy), Carley Slavin (Abington, Pa./Abington), Lauren Corless (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge), and fellow New Jersey native
Olivia Conroy (Toms River, N.J./Donovan Catholic) has been difficult to solve for opponents this season, limiting the opposition to an average of just 4.9 shots on goal per game.
FIGURING OUT FROSTBURG STATE
Frostburg State enters play on Friday following a Mountain East Conference Championship game appearance, which saw the Bobcats fall to top-seed Charleston (W.V.) by a 2-1 final on Sunday afternoon. Frostburg State never led in this game as Charleston scored the first two goals of the contest in the 51
st and 78
th minutes before the Bobcats cut the deficit in half with a late goal in the 88
th minute of action. Sunday marked Frostburg's second loss of the season and first since a September 30 setback against the Golden Eagles on an early Senior night for the Bobcats.
Entering the NCAA Tournament with a mark of 17-2-2 on the season, Frostburg State has been difficult to stop offensively, outscoring its opponents 52-8 on the year, averaging just under 2.5 (2.48) goals per game while limiting opponents to 0.38 goals per game. Madi Allen and Toni Fiocco-Mizer are tied for the team lead in goals with eight each, while Fiocco-Mizer leads the team in points with 21 after adding five assists. Catherine Smith and Carly Gillette have also been genuine offensive threats for a versatile Bobcat team, which has seen 17 players find the back of the net this season, entering the NCAA Tournament with seven and six goals, respectively.
Defensively, the senior keeper Ashley Bilger has played the majority of the time in goal, playing to a record of 15-2-2 and limiting opponents to an average of just 0.44 goals per game with 13 shutouts on the year. As a unit, Frostburg State's defense has done an excellent job of limiting its opportunities, holding its opposition to an average of 5.2 shots per game and an average of just 2.5 shots on goal per game.
WITH A WIN
West Chester would advance to at least the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the seventh year in a row, dating back to the 2015 season when the Golden Rams suffered a First Round exit vs East Stroudsburg in Buckhannon, West Virginia. With a victory, the Golden Rams would face the winner of the Kutztown/Concord matchup on Sunday afternoon beginning at 12 p.m.
