WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The 16
th-ranked West Chester University women's soccer team (13-1-1) is set to host No. 4 Kutztown (14-1-2, 11-1-1) on Wednesday afternoon in its regular-season finale with major postseason implications. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. on Rockwell Field, with the winner earning the PSAC East Regular Season crown and an advantage in the race for a top-two seed in the NCAA Atlantic Region Tournament when play gets underway on November 13.
West Chester vs. Kutztown
Game Details: October 28 – 2 P.M. | Rockwell Field (West Chester, Pa.)
Series: 33-17-5
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Five Things to Know
- West Chester enters play on Wednesday following a 2-0 Senior Day victory over Shippensburg on Saturday afternoon on Rockwell Field. Adriana Ryder (Hamilton, N.J./Steinert) scored her second game-winning goal of the week and fourth of the season in the 26th minute, before Kianna Barber (Browns Mills, N.J./BCIT) added an insurance goal in the 81st minute to seal the victory.
- Barber has scored a goal in four of the last five games for West Chester, scoring five goals during this span along with an assist on Saturday's winner, which has her atop the team scoring chart with seven goals and seven assists for 21 points. Jordan Nguyen (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim Central), who turned in an incredible scoring run of her own earlier this season, is next with seven goals and two assists for 16 points, while Ryder has five goals and five assists for 15 points of her own. Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove), the PSAC East Defensive Athlete of the Week, picked up her 13th win and seventh shutout of the season on Saturday, while also notching her 55th career victory and 35th career shutout. Keen's 55 wins are the second most in team history, while her 35 shutouts are tied for the most in program history. The senior keeper enters play on Wednesday with a 0.30 goals-against average and a record of 13-1-1 with seven solo shutouts and a hand in three more.
- Kutztown enters play at 14-1-2 overall and 11-1-1 in league action after a dominant 4-0 win over Mansfield on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon. The win came after a second-half surge that led the Golden Bears to a 3-1 win over Millersville after trailing at the midway point. Carley Louey scored a pair of goals for Kutztown in the win, while Giavanna Marciano and Ella Shamp added goals of their own. Louey leads the team and ranks second in the league in scoring with 14 goals and five assists for 33 points, while Corinne Morgan has 10 goals and four assists for 24 points. Marciano has six goals and three assists for 15 points. In goal, Morgan O'Donnell is 12-1-2 with a 0.73 goals-against average and six shutouts.
- No strangers to one another and no strangers to big games against each other, West Chester and Kutztown renew their rivalry on Wednesday on Rockwell, with West Chester holding a narrow 33-17-5 lead over Kutztown after a season sweep last season and a loss at Kutztown in the first meeting between the two Eastern Division rivals earlier this season. Wednesday's game is the de facto PSAC East Championship game, with the winner capturing the PSAC East Regular Season title as well as an important leg-up in the race for a top-two seed in the NCAA Tournament when play begins on November 13th. West Chester has faced Kutztown with a title of some sort on the line many times over the years, with the most recent occasion being a 1-0 victory over the Golden Bears in the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship game in Albany, New York, in November 2022.
- The simplest path for West Chester to repeat as PSAC East Regular Season Champions in 2026 is a win over the Golden Bears on Rockwell on Wednesday, which will improve West Chester to 21-9-1 at home against the Golden Bears since September 1992. A loss will hand the Golden Bears the outright title, while a draw will leave the Golden Bears and Golden Rams as co-regular season champions; however, Kutztown will likely win the tiebreak on goal differential after a 1-0 win in Kutztown earlier this fall.
Up Next
West Chester will kick off the PSAC Tournament on Rockwell Field Tuesday afternoon in a PSAC Quarterfinal matchup against an opponent yet to be determined. With a win on Wednesday, West Chester will capture the PSAC East Regular Season title and host the winner of the #4/5 matchup from the PSAC West on Tuesday. Anything less than a win will leave the door open for Kutztown to capture the Regular Season crown and top seed, leaving West Chester as the two seed against the No. 3 seed from the PSAC West.
