WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The second-seeded West Chester University women's soccer team (10-7-1) returned to action on a brisk Tuesday afternoon on Rockwell Field against third-seeded Kutztown (10-3-6) in the PSAC Quarterfinals. West Chester battled throughout the afternoon and applied heavy pressure to the Kutztown defense late in the second half, but the Golden Rams were denied the chance for their consecutive PSAC Championship as the Golden Bears scored midway through the second half to escape Rockwell with a narrow 1-0 victory.
Skyler Jordan scored her first goal of the season in the 55
th minute as she finished a bouncing ball in the box off a long free kick from Maura Day, which lifted the third-seeded Golden Bears to the 1-0 PSAC Tournament opening victory in the first PSAC Tournament clash between the two rivals since 2014.
Kutztown ended the game with a 12-8 lead in shots, although shots on goal were even at 4-4 and corners were even at 3-3 in the setback.
West Chester generated the first good chance of the match in the early stages as
Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) tried to volley home a chance from the box just two minutes but it was saved by a lunging Cassidy Howes and found its way out for an early corner.
West Chester was unable to generate anything off this corner. Kutztown wasted little time in getting its first offensive opportunity of the game on the other end, getting off three shots, which led to two early
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) and two corners before the flurry finally ended in the ninth-minute when a Skyler Jordan shot was blocked off following the second corner.
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) generated a great opportunity for West Chester on the counterattack, finding her way in behind the Kutztown defense. However, her shot inched over the crossbar to keep the match scoreless for the time being.
As the opening half progressed, Kutztown continued to outshoot the Golden Rams, ending the half with a 9-2 lead in shots, including a 3-1 lead in shots on goal, but Keen was up to the task, making three good saves to send the game into the halftime break scoreless.
Early in the second half, Kutztown drew a foul in front of the Golden Ram bench and brought Day up from the back for a big free-kick into the box. Day sent her kick in, and the ball bounced around the box before making its way out to the far side of the box, finding the feet of Jordan, who buried it into the upper corner past a leaping Keen to give Kutztown the 1-0 lead.
Trailing by one with 35 minutes to play, West Chester went to work offensively, outshooting its guests 6-3 in the second half, including a 3-1 advantage in shots on goal, but Howes had little trouble with any of these chances, making saves on each of them to secure the 1-0 shutout victory.
Today's setback may bring the Golden Rams 2024 season to its conclusion as the Golden Rams will be forced to wait and hope for a bid to its 21
st consecutive NCAA Tournament when the selection show airs on NCAA.com on Monday at 7 p.m.
