WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After running its unbeaten streak to nine and winning streak to four in a row, the 21
st-ranked West Chester University women's soccer team (9-1-3, 6-1-3) will return home on Saturday afternoon to take on No. 18 Bloomsburg (9-2-2, 6-2-2). Saturday's game will be game two of a doubleheader on Rockwell Field and is scheduled to kick off at approximately 2:30 p.m. following the conclusion of the men's game vs Bloomsburg at Noon on Saturday.
West Chester vs Bloomsburg
Match Details: October 25 I 2:30 P.M.
Location: Rockwell Field (West Chester, Pa.)
Series: 25-19-7
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Fan Advisory
Fans are encouraged to arrive early and expect heavy traffic on Saturday afternoon, with home football against No. 4 Kutztown also beginning at 12 p.m., along with the Golden Rams men's soccer game against Bloomsburg preceding the women's clash. Fans are also advised that, depending on arrival time, they may need to pay $10 (card only) to park on South Campus due to the home football game in Farrell Stadium.
Last Time Out
West Chester extended all of its streaks on Wednesday night at Kutztown, stretching its unbeaten streak to nine, winning streak to four, and shutout streak to four with a dominant 2-0 win over Kutztown.
Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), who is one of the Golden Rams' three senior captains, scored both goals in the victory, scoring her first goal of the night midway through the first half before adding another in the second off a free kick to lift West Chester to the two-goal victory. West Chester ended the match with a 22-7 lead in shots, a 12-2 lead in shots on goal, and a 4-2 lead in corners as the visitors were in control of the match throughout the evening.
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) was sharp in goal as well, making two saves to extend her personal scoreless streak to 416 minutes with her last goal allowed coming in the 35
th minute of a 1-1 draw against Shepherd.
Flock Talk
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) remains the Golden Rams' leading scorer with five goals and five assists for 15 points on the year.
Kianna Barber (Browns Mills, N.J./BCIT) leads the team in goals with six, along with two assists for 14 points. Barber, a two-time Athlete of the Week honoree, scored a goal in four consecutive games and five of six earlier this season, with the lone game she did not score during that span being 9/20 at Bloomsburg.
Lindsey Balmer (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge), who scored the lone WCU goal at Bloomsburg earlier this fall, is third on the team in scoring with five goals and two assists for 12 points, while Pungello climbed into fourth with nine points (three goals/three assists) after her two goals on Wednesday night.
In goal, Keen has been fantastic, playing to a record of 9-1-3 with a 0.35 goals-against average and 44 saves (.917 save percentage) in 1044 minutes of action. Keen leads the PSAC in goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts after picking up her seventh complete-game shutout of the year on Wednesday. Keen has had a hand in all 10 shutouts for West Chester this season.
Sam Hollish (Horsham, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) has helped West Chester close out three of these 10 shutouts, appearing in three matches and logging 108 minutes, including a season-best 54 in the shutout win over Mansfield earlier this month.
Rank and File
West Chester and Bloomsburg meet on Saturday afternoon, as they have so many times over the years, for a top-25 battle: the Huskies enter ranked 18
th in Division II, while West Chester is ranked 21
st. The Golden Rams and Huskies are two of three PSAC teams in the top 25, as perennial power Gannon sits in seventh at 12-0-1 on the season.
Don't Stop us Now
West Chester will look to stretch its unbeaten streak to an impressive 10 in a row on Saturday afternoon and also extend its winning streak to five when the Huskies make their annual visit to Rockwell Field. The Golden Rams are outscoring opponents 15-0 during their four-game winning streak, including an 8-0 victory over Mansfield and a 4-0 win over Shippensburg each of the last two Saturdays.
West Chester is 19-11-1 against Bloomsburg in West Chester and has not lost to Matt Haney's charges at home since October 2021, when the team went 0-2-1 against the Huskies.
Home Sweet home
West Chester has been nothing short of magnificent at home this season, playing to a record of 6-0-1 on Rockwell Field and outscoring opponents 14-1 at home this season with shutouts in six of those seven games, including a 3-0 victory over Jefferson, which remains the Rams' lone loss of the season. The only team to score on West Chester at home so far this season was Shepherd on October 4, when the Rams escaped West Chester with a 1-1 draw.
Find A Way Back
West Chester continues its hunt for a return to the NCAA Tournament after seeing its 20-year appearance streak halted last fall. Head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley led West Chester to the Tournament in 16 of those 20 appearances and boasts a 23-15-8 record in NCAA Tournament games.
You Shall Not
West Chester has yielded just four goals this season, holding opponents to a 0.31 goals-against average with 10 shutouts after its fourth shutout in a row on Wednesday night at Kutztown. While Keen has been spectacular in goal, making 44 saves with a league-best .917 save percentage and a .345 goals-against average, the Golden Ram backline, led by senior captain
Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North), has also been tremendous in 2025. The Golden Rams have allowed an opponent to take 10 or more shots only four times this season, with the last occurrence being when Millersville took 12 shots (six on goal) on Rockwell Field on October 8. Perhaps even more impressively, West Chester has allowed just 49 shots on goal this season, with the highest total being 10 by No. 11 Jefferson on September 9. Since that time, West Chester has not allowed an opponent to take more than seven shots on goal and has held teams under three shots on goal in each of the last three games.
Series History
West Chester retains a 25-19-7 lead in the all-time series (since 1992) after playing to a 1-1 draw at Bloomsburg earlier this season. West Chester is 5-3-2 in its last 10 matchups against Bloomsburg, including a sweep in 2023 and a split in 2024.
Scouting Bloomsburg
No. 18 Bloomsburg (9-2-2, 6-2-2) stretched its winning streak to three in a row on Wednesday evening with a 2-1 victory over East Stroudsburg after posting a 1-0 win over Shippensburg on October 8 and a 2-1 win over Millersville on October 11. Bloomsburg jumped out to a 2-0 lead in its win over ESU last night, scoring goals from Sydney Donovan and Daryn Savage. The visiting Warriors got a goal back in the 69th minute, but it was not enough to overcome the two-goal halftime deficit. Bloomsburg finished the game with a 12-10 lead in shots and an 8-3 lead in corners, although ESU finished the match with a slim 6-5 lead in shots on goal. Samantha Merklin, who is second in the league in save percentage (.866), made five stops for her third win in a row.
Olivia Thompson and Alexa Arrigale are first and second on the team in scoring with 10 and eight points, respectively. Thompson and Arrigale are tied for the team lead in goals with four each, while Thompson also has two assists for 10 points. Viktorya Lukenbach is also tied for second in scoring with three goals and two assists in 13 games off the bench for Bloomsburg. Merklin is 9-2-2 on the year with a 0.73 goals-against average and 58 saves for her .866 save percentage. Merklin also has five solo shutouts and a hand in six after Izzy Hoffeditz helped finish another shutout in 59 minutes of work earlier this season.
Up Next
West Chester will head back out on the road on Wednesday to visit 2024 PSAC Champion, Shepherd, beginning at 1 p.m. before returning home to host Lock Haven on November 1 on what will also be Senior Day for the Golden Rams, beginning at 2 P.M.
