WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Playing in its first National Quarterfinal since 2022, West Chester University women's soccer team (16-3-4) erased an early two-goal deficit on Saturday afternoon but fell to East Region Champion Franklin Pierce (16-2-5) in overtime by a 3-2 final.
"I'm really proud of this group and all that they've accomplished," opened head coach
Betty Ann Kempf Townsley. "Between the Regular Season Championship and Atlantic Region Championship last week, this group has accomplished so much, and a big part of that was the leadership of our senior class. Our seniors were incredible all season, and I can't thank them enough for all they've done for us."
Olivia Crespo scored the first goal of the match just over five minutes in, and after goals by
Katie Dougherty (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West) and
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) erased the deficit scored the game-winner just over 30 seconds into overtime.
"To come back and force overtime after falling behind early as we did was huge," acknowledged Kempf Townsley. "An effort like that is what we talk about when we say how special this group is and how strong the leadership on this team has been all season long. It's just unfortunate that we came up short at the end."
West Chester found itself in an early hole as Franklin Pierce scored twice in the first 16 minutes of the match. Olivia Crespo scored her first of two goals on the afternoon in the 6
th minute off a feed from McKenna Maguire before Maguire added a goal of her own on an outstanding individual effort in the 16
th minute to give the Ravens an early 2-0 lead.
West Chester began its comeback bid just before halftime as the team won its second corner of the half in the 44
th minute and
Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) sent in a perfect cross to a leaping
Katie Dougherty (Glenmoore, Pa./Downingtown West), who made the most of the chance, scoring her second goal of the season via a header, which cut the deficit to just one heading into the half.
"That certainly gave us great momentum heading into the half," noted Kempf Townsley when asked about the goal just before halftime. "We knew that if we could get a goal before half, that could jumpstart us, and I thought we had great energy coming out of the half, but we just couldn't sustain it. Credit to Franklin Pierce, though, that is a really talented, disciplined, and well-coached team, and they played an outstanding game."
Early in the second half, West Chester tied the score as
Kate Alexander (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) picked up her second assist in as many games and third of the NCAA Tournament as she found a crashing
Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown), on the near post, who converted the feed into the tying goal.
Both sides pressed for a goal over the next 34 minutes of play, but neither team could find the game-winner, forcing overtime.
In overtime, West Chester started with the ball, but Franklin Pierce quickly regained possession, and McGuire picked up her second assist and fourth point of the afternoon when she found a cutting Crespo yet again for the game-winner goal just 37 seconds into the extra period.
Franklin Pierce ended the match with a slim 16-15 lead in shots and a 7-6 lead in shots on goal, along with an 8-2 lead in corners.
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) made four saves, while her counterpart Jess LaCroix made four stops of her own, including three in the first half to slow the West Chester offense, which had been the top unit in the Tournament entering play on Saturday.
Today's setback concludes the 2025 season for West Chester and sends Franklin Pierce back to the National Semifinals for the second year in a row. The Ravens advanced to the Semifinals with a 2-1 win over Shepherd last December before falling to eventual National Champion Cal Poly-Pomona in the Semifinals.
