West Chester at Shippensburg
Game Details: October 16 I 7:30 P.M.
Location: David See Field (Shippensburg, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
Series: WCU leads 36-5
West Chester Links: News I Roster I Schedule I Stats
Shippensburg Links: News I Roster I Schedule I Stats
Last Time Out
West Chester enters off an impressive win its most recent outing, a 2-0 victory over East Stroudsburg, which allowed the Purple and Gold to exact revenge for a 1-0 loss at the Warriors earlier this season. Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) was a menace all over the field for West Chester on Saturday, wreaking havoc throughout the afternoon defensively and using this effort to score both goals in the victory. Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) extended her shutout streak to 270 minutes and counting with a three-save effort to quiet the Warrior offense. West Chester ended the match with a 14-11 lead in shots, including a 5-3 edge in shots on goal, while finishing the afternoon with three corners, even with East Stroudsburg.
Flock Talk
Matter, the PSAC East Athlete of the Week last week, extended her lead atop the team scoring chart this weekend with two goals, increasing her point total to 18 with five goals and a team-best eight assists on the year. Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) continues to lead the team in goals with six, including a team-best three game-winners, while Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) is close behind with four goals and two assists for 10 points of her own. Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) scored the winner at Shepherd on Wednesday and has now scored two goals in October after scoring her first of the year at Kutztown to open the month. The junior midfielder had a three-game point streak snapped on Saturday afternoon as she had also assisted on the Carley Slavin (Abington, Pa./Abington) game-winner against Bloomsburg earlier this month.
In goal, Keen has been excellent in her sophomore campaign, playing to a record of 7-3-0 with five shutouts and a 0.91 goals-against average. Keen is on a three-game shutout streak and has not surrendered a goal since the 79th minute of the loss at Kutztown to open the month, which was also West Chester’s last loss.
We Are Honored
Keen earned PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week honors after a pair of shutout victories a week ago over Shepherd and East Stroudsburg. Keen made seven saves throughout these two shutouts to earn the weekly award and, in doing so, extended West Chester’s streak of weekly honors to two straight after Matter was named Player of the Week last Monday afternoon.
Heating Up
After suffering a two-game losing streak in mid-September, West Chester has now won five of its last six, including a 1-0 win over previously unbeaten and no. 17 ranked Shepherd on the road on Wednesday and a 2-0 victory over East Stroudsburg on Saturday to exact revenge for a 1-0 road loss in September. West Chester has surrendered just one goal throughout its five wins, outscoring opponents 15-1 in the five victories and 16-4 in the last six matches.
Spooky Season
Under head coach Betty Ann Kempf Townsley, West Chester is 100-15-11 in matches played in October. The Golden Rams' current senior class has only lost three games in October and has played to a draw in two others, posting a record of 23-3-2 in their careers entering play on Wednesday night.
Series History
West Chester holds a commanding 36-5 lead in the all-time series vs Shippensburg, including wins in each of the last five meetings between the two teams. West Chester swept the series a year ago, outscoring Shippensburg 7-0 in two games, including a 4-0 road triumph and a 3-0 win at home in early October. The Golden Rams have not lost to Shippensburg since a 3-1 road setback in October 2021.
In the first meeting between the two sides earlier this year, West Chester scored twice in the first 30 minutes of play as Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) and Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) both scored before Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) added a goal of her own in the 59th minute.
Scouting SHIP
If nothing else, Shippensburg (2-6-2, 2-4-2) enters play on Wednesday night well rested, as the Raiders had a bye on Saturday afternoon after a 3-0 road loss to Bloomsburg last Wednesday afternoon halted a three-game unbeaten streak. The Raiders opened PSAC East play 0-3-1, finding themselves being outscored by a gaudy 12-3 margin in the first four games before bouncing back with a 2-1 victory over Mansfield, a 1-0 win over Lock Haven and a 1-1 draw vs. East Stroudsburg back on October 5.
Riding the momentum of its three-game streak, Shippensburg traveled to Bloomsburg for a Wednesday afternoon matinee against the Huskies and found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 final at Steph Petit Stadium. Bloomsburg scored one goal on five shots in the first half when Beth Stephens finished an assist from Erin Ranegan before Laci Bell and Olivia Thompson added goals of their own late in the second half to roll to the victory. Bloomsburg ended the match with a 14-7 lead in shots (6-5 in shots on goal) and a 7-2 lead in corners. Kirstin Brown made three saves in the loss, while her counterpart, Samantha Merklin, was excellent, finishing with five saves to quiet the Shippensburg offense.
The Shippensburg offense has been relatively quiet throughout the 2024 season, mustering just seven goals on the year, led by Olivia Stephen who has scored a team-best three goals along with an assist for seven points on the year. Stephen scored the first goal of the year after over 300 minutes of searching via a PK in a 6-1 home loss to Shepherd, but this seemed to spark something for head coach Rob Fulton’s squad as the Raiders scored five goals in their next four games, including a 2-2 draw vs. No. 8 Kutztown and a 2-1 win over Mansfield. Brown has been steady in goal for Shippensburg this year, making 50 saves in over 800 minutes of action and posting a record of 2-6-2 with one shutout and a 2.14 goals-against average.
