SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.V.- After a pair of victories over West Virginia State and Fairmont State to open the NCAA Tournament, the West Chester University women's soccer team (15-2-4) is finishing its preparations to play for its eighth Atlantic Regional Championship in team history against PSAC Tournament Champion Shepherd (12-1-6) on Sunday afternoon in West Virginia. Kickoff in the clash between the Golden Rams and Rams is set for 1 p.m.
#2 West Chester at #1 Shepherd
Game Details: November 30 I 1 P.M.
Location: Shepherd Soccer Complex (Shepherdstown, W.V.)
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How We Got Here
West Chester advanced out of the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament yet again with a 2-0 victory over Fairmont State in the Regional Semifinals on Sunday afternoon.
Lindsey Balmer (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) gave West Chester the halftime lead with a late-first-half goal off an assist from
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) before
Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) scored late off an assist from Matter to lift West Chester to the 2-0 victory. West Chester ended the game with a 25-12 lead in shots and a 10-6 lead in shots on goal, along with a 3-2 lead in corners.
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) made six saves to earn her first shutout victory of the postseason and move into a tie for fourth in career wins with 41.
History Lesson
West Chester returns to the Atlantic Regional Championship game for the seventh time in nine seasons and the third time in four years this season after a brief one-year hiatus a season ago. West Chester is in search of its eighth Atlantic Regional Championship and seventh under head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley. Kempf Townsley is 27-15-9 in the NCAA Tournament, including a record of 8-1-1 in the Tournament with this senior class. The Golden Rams senior class has appeared in the Atlantic Regional Championship game three times in four years, including their rookie season in 2022, when the team advanced to the National Championship game before falling to Western Washington for their only loss in an NCAA Tournament game.
Have a Weekend
Kianna Barber (Browns Mills, N.J./BCIT) will deservedly get most of the headlines from the first weekend of NCAA Tournament action as the sophomore forward scored the Golden Rams' first NCAA Tournament hat trick in the win over West Virginia State. Pungello certainly deserves her share of the top billing as the senior scored two goals and assisted on another in the victory over WVSU on Friday before adding a goal on Saturday late in the win over Fairmont State.
We Are Honored
West Chester added postseason honors on Tuesday afternoon as Keen, Barber, Pungello, Matter, and
Katie Dougherty (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) earned Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-Region honors.
West Chester also earned Academic honors of Keen, Barber,
Lauren Reimold (Chester Springs, Pa./Downingtown East), Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North), and Jenna Fox (Magnolia, Del./Polytech) earned Collegiate Sports Communicators Academic All-District honors.
Series History
West Chester dropped to 9-2-3 all-time against Shepherd with a 3-0 loss in the PSAC Semifinals earlier in November. The Golden Rams are in search of their first win over the Rams since a 1-0 win at Shepherd in October 2024.
How They Got Here
Shepherd returns to the Atlantic Regional Championship game for the second year in a row after a 4-0 victory over Gannon in the Regional Semifinals on Sunday. Since the beginning of the postseason in the PSAC Quarterfinals on November 11 at Gannon, Shepherd has outscored teams 13-1, including a 3-0 victory over the Golden Rams in the PSAC Semifinals and a 4-1 victory over Kutztown in the PSAC Championship game in West Chester on November 16. On Sunday afternoon against Gannon, Reagan Ackerman scored the game-winning goal in the 41
st minute off an assist from Anaya Lozano, who added a goal of her own in the 79
th minute off an assist from Lydia Gable, who scored just two minutes later in the 4-0 victory. Merritt Delk scored the second goal of the game in the 70
th minute off an assist from PSAC Tournament MVP Josie Beezel. Gannon outshot Shepherd 14-7, although the Rams held a 5-3 advantage in shots on goal.
Lozano is first on the team in scoring with 13 goals and three assists for 29 points, followed by Beezel and Delk with 25 points each. Beezel has eight goals and nine assists, while Delk has nine goals and seven assists, along with eight goals and eight assists from Ackermann. Gable has eight goals and seven assists of her own for 23 points. In goal, Hannah Wilt is now 11-1-6 on the year with a 0.67 goals-against average and 45 saves for a .789 save percentage with eight shutouts, including three in her last four games.
The Other Side
Sunday's game is the final game of the Atlantic Regional Tournament and will send either West Chester or Shepherd through to the National Quarterfinals next weekend. The other half of that National Quarterfinal would be the winner of the East Region final between Jefferson and the team that West Chester defeated in the Quarterfinals in 2022, Franklin Pierce.
With a Win
With a victory, West Chester will hoist its seventh Regional Championship trophy under head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley and its eighth overall, including its first Regional Championship in 2006. West Chester would also return to Rockwell Field next weekend to take on the winner of the Franklin Pierce/Jefferson Regional Championship match at Franklin Pierce this weekend. The National Quarterfinal against that winner would be played on 12/6 at 1 p.m.
