WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Following respective victories over Kutztown and West Virginia State on Friday afternoon, the sixth-seeded Fairmont State University Fighting Falcons (17-1-3) and second-seeded West Chester University Golden Rams (14-2-4) are preparing to do battle on Sunday afternoon at Rockwell with a spot in the Atlantic Region Championship on November 30 on the line. Kickoff from Rockwell Field is set for 1 p.m.
Fan Information
For fans making the trip to Rockwell Field on Friday, tickets are required, and prices are $13 for adults and $8 for students (K-12)/seniors (+65). Tickets must be purchased on site, and sales will be cashless. Additionally, fans should park in Q Lot located across South New Street from Rockwell Field, as Lot T, directly adjacent to Rockwell Field, will not be available for general fan parking. For fans unable to make the trip to West Chester this weekend, live stats and live video are available
here.
How They Got Here
West Chester punched its ticket back to the Second Round with a dominant 5-2 victory over West Virginia State on Friday afternoon, led by a hat trick by
Kianna Barber (Browns Mills, N.J./BCIT). Barber became the first Golden Ram in team history to record a hat trick in an NCAA Tournament game and is the first player in all of Division II women's soccer to do so since a player for Colorado-Colorado Springs did so in a November 2023 win over Dallas Baptist. West Chester also set a new program record for goals in an NCAA Tournament game with five, surpassing the previous mark of four, set in 2006 with back-to-back four-goal efforts against Slippery Rock and Indiana (Pa.) to open the Tournament. Check out the full recap
here.
Fairmont State pulled the upset on Friday morning, knocking off PSAC Tournament finalist, Kutztown, by a 2-1 final on Rockwell Field on the strength of a pair of goals by Filippa Stalhammar as she scored in the 25
th and 52
nd minutes to down the third-seeded Golden Bears. Fairmont State outshot Kutztown 15-13 overall and 9-8 in shots on goal, which, along with seven critical saves by Olivia Johnston, led the Fighting Falcons to their first NCAA Tournament win in team history.
Well Hello…
West Chester and Fairmont State will meet for the first time in program history on Sunday afternoon.
History Lesson
West Chester returned to the NCAA Tournament after a brief one-year hiatus a year ago, and head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley improved to 26-15-9 in NCAA Tournament games with a dominant 5-2 victory over Fairmont State. West Chester also extended its streak of advancing to at least the Second Round of the Tournament, as the Golden Rams have still not fallen in the First Round since an November 2015 loss in overtime against East Stroudsburg at West Virginia Wesleyan. The Golden Ram senior class also improved to 7-1-1 in NCAA Tournament games, with the lone loss coming in the 2022 National Championship game against Western Washington.
Flock Talk
Barber extended her lead atop the team scoring chart on Friday, now with 12 goals and five assists for 29 points on the season.
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) remains second with seven goals and a team-best eight assists for 22 points, followed by Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial), who has five goals and seven assists for 17 points on the season, including two goals and an assist on Friday.
In goal,
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) improved to 14-2-4 with a 0.65 goals-against average and nine shutouts on Friday. Keen increased her save total to 69 with six saves on Friday, and her save percentage is now .852 entering her second career regional semifinal.
Scouting Fairmont State
Fairmont State (17-1-3) ran its winning streak to four and its unbeaten streak to 13 in a row, dating back to a 3-2 loss to West Virginia State at home on October 5. The Fighting Falcons, who won the Mountain East Tournament title with a 4-1 victory over Charleston last Sunday, earned their first NCAA Tournament win in program history on Friday and will be looking for their second on Sunday afternoon.
Montserrat Diaz, who assisted on the first goal of the game on Friday morning, leads the team in scoring with 12 goals and eight assists for 32 points, while Valentina Gianinetto is second with 11 goals and six assists for 28 points on the year. Serenity Thomas is next with nine goals and four assists for 22 points, followed by Payton Parliament with six goals and six assists for 18points. Stalhammar, who was the hero on Friday, is tied with Parliament in goals with six of her own, along with three assists for 15 points.
Johnston improved to 15-1-3 in goal on Friday with a 0.87 goals-against average and two shutouts on the year. Including her seven saves on Friday, Johnstown has 46 saves on the year and a .754 save percentage.
With a Win
With a win on Sunday afternoon, West Chester would punch its ticket back to the Atlantic Regional Final against the winner of the other Regional Semifinal between Gannon and Shepherd on November 30 at 1 p.m. If West Chester and Shepherd, who are the top two seeds in the Tournament, both win, West Chester will be forced to make the four-hour trek to West Virginia to take on the PSAC Tournament Champion Rams. Should Gannon knock off the top-seed, West Chester would be in line to host the Regional Final on Rockwell next Sunday afternoon.
West Chester is looking to return to the Atlantic Regional Championship game for the third time in four years and seventh time in nine seasons in search of its eighth Atlantic Regional Championship, seventh under head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley, and first since 2022.
