West Chester vs Kutztown
Game Details: November 12 I 1 P.M.
Location: Rockwell Field (West Chester, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video I Tickets
Series: 31-15-5
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Kutztown Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Fan Information
Tickets: Fans are advised that tickets are required for Tuesday’s quarterfinal and must be purchased online via this link, as all sales will be cashless again in 2024. Ticket prices are set at $10 for adults and $5 for students in grades K-12. Students from PSAC Member Institutions with valid, current IDs will be admitted free of charge, as will PSAC Passholders. No complimentary tickets will be available. The PSAC has launched a Championship Central, which can be accessed via this link.
Parking: Fans must park in Q Lot, located directly across South New Street from the Soccer Complex. Lot T, directly adjacent to Rockwell Field, will be closed to general fan parking on Monday afternoon; however, it will remain available for handicap-accessible parking. Fans should follow the signage for soccer parking upon arrival at the field on Tuesday.
Last Time Out
West Chester enters play following a 1-0 loss at the hands of No. 14 Shepherd on Saturday afternoon. The Rams scored the eventual game-winning goal midway through the first half and made this 18th-minute tally stand up for the 1-0 victory. West Chester dominated the second half and outshot its guests 8-1 in the final 45 minutes, but Hannah Wilt made five saves, and her backline was excellent to quiet the top offensive unit in the PSAC East in the regular-season finale.
Flock Talk
Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) remains the top goal scorer in the PSAC with 13 on the year, which is tied for the ninth most in single-season history and is the most by a Golden Ram in a single season since Hannah Zach scored 13 of her own in 2019. Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) remains tied for first in the PSAC in points with 29 (9 G 11 A) as she is tied with Grace Emmanuel of Gannon for the league lead. Matter’s 11 assists in 2024 have increased her career total to 31, one assist shy of tying the career record of 32, currently held by Sarah Oswald (2007-10). Matter is also fifth in career goals with 29, chasing Christina Almquist (1997-00), who is fourth with 36 in her career.
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) continues to be a fixture in goal, entering play with a record of 10-6-1 with eight shutouts and a 0.85 goals-against average.
How They Got Here
West Chester clinched its seed on Wednesday night with its victory over Millersville and a 3-0 Kutztown loss at the hands of East Stroudsburg. Kutztown’s Wednesday night loss was the Golden Bears final game of the regular season and part of a concerning stretch, which saw Kutztown go 1-2-2 in its last five games. The Golden Bears nearly fell to the fourth seed and earned a trip to West Virginia to face Regular Season Champion Shepherd, but Shippensburg escaped with a draw against Bloomsburg on Saturday, which allowed Kutztown to hold onto the third seed.
Series Information
West Chester holds a slim 31-15-5 lead in the all-time series against Kutztown after going 1-1-1 against the Golden Bears in 2023 and 0-1-1 in 2024. Although West Chester lost its season opener to Kutztown for the second year in a row, it has never been swept in a season series against Kutztown.
Tuesday’s clash will be the seventh PSAC Tournament match between West Chester and Kutztown. The Golden Rams lead the series 4-2, with wins in four of the last five. While West Chester has defeated Kutztown in the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two years, it has not faced Kutztown in the PSAC Tournament since a 2014 setback to the Golden Bears.
Need a Win
Following a setback on Saturday, which dropped West Chester to 10-6-1 on the year, the Golden Rams enter Tuesday in need of a Quarterfinal victory to improve their NCAA Tournament prospects. The Golden Rams look to make the Tournament for the 21st consecutive year. West Chester has not lost six games since going 14-6-2 in 2019 and has not lost more than six since going 13-8 in 2013.
Scouting Kutztown
Kutztown enters play as the third seed with a record of 9-3-6 on the year, although the Golden Bears are just 1-2-2 in their last five, including a draw on Rockwell to start that dismal streak to end the season.
In its regular-season finale on Wednesday, Kutztown found itself behind early, as ESU scored less than six minutes into the match to give the Warriors an early 1-0 lead. The Warriors scored two more goals midway through the second half when Rebecca Kotula scored her fifth and sixth goals of the season, handing Kutztown its third loss of the year while also keeping the Warriors' playoff hopes alive for another day.
Isabella Rossetti and Corrine Morgan lead the team in scoring with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Rossetti has scored a team-best eight goals, while Morgan has seven goals and one assist. Katelyn Economopoulos is first on the team in assists, with five in the regular season. Cassidy Howes is in the midst of an outstanding rookie season, which has seen the first-year play to a record of 8-3-5 with seven shutouts and a 0.84 goals-against average.
With a Win
West Chester will improve its NCAA Tournament resume with a victory on Tuesday and will advance to the PSAC Semifinals against the highest remaining seed in the PSAC West on that team’s home field as the Western Division will host the PSAC Championship Weekend once again in 2024.
