KUTZTOWN, PA. (November 3, 2009) – The Kutztown University women's soccer team got goals from four different players along with two assists from junior defender Chelsea Deeter (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) (Langhorne/Neshimany) to defeat East Stroudsburg, 4-1, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) quarterfinal match at Keystone Field Tuesday afternoon. (Boxscore)
Deeter assisted on goals by sophomore Chelsea Bressler (Cleona, PA/Annville-Cleona) (Annville/Annville-Cleona) and senior forward Raven Chiara (Jamesburg, N.J./Monroe Township) (Monroe, NJ/Monroe Township) in the first three minutes of the game to help Kutztown, advance to the PSAC semifinals for the first time since 2006. Also scoring goals for the Golden Bears was junior midfielder Jen Tice (Barnegat, N.J./Southern Regional) (Barnegat, N.J./Southern Regional) and junior defender Kelly Bushe (Neptune City, N.J./Neptune) (Neptune City, NJ/Neptune).
Kutztown (14-4-2 overall) is ranked 24th in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25 poll. This was Kutztown's third victory over East Stroudsburg (11-7-2) this season.
The Golden Bears tied a school record for most wins in a season and advanced to a semifinal match against PSAC West champion California (Pa.), a 2-0 winner over Gannon, Friday afternoon at West Chester (1:30 p.m.). West Chester hosts Indiana (Pa.) beginning at 11 a.m. The two winners will meet for the PSAC title Saturday at 1 p.m. at West Chester. In the other quarterfinal matches on Tuesday, West Chester beat Bloomsburg, 3-0 and Indiana edged Mercyhurst, 1-0.
“We were really pumped up for this game and we came out with a lot of intensity,” Deeter said. “This is an incredible feeling to win a home playoff game. But this is just the first step of our journey. We knew we had to fight hard and play hard for the entire 90 minutes and I think we did that today.”
After claiming a pair of tense 1-0 victories over ESU in the regular season, Kutztown wasted little time establishing control of this contest. Deeter was in the middle of both scoring rallies. She fed a long through ball to Bressler, who scored 30 seconds into the game. Before fans could get settled in their seats, Deeter delivered another long pass to Chiara, who found the back of the net two minutes later.
“We really got after ESU from the opening whistle, we got our first goal early and we continued to push for a second,” Kutztown women's soccer coach Erik Burstein said. “Although we were two up at the half, I really did not feel the game was over. In our earlier games with ESU we were only able to put together 45 minutes of quality soccer, but today we played a full 90 minutes and got the result we fully deserved.”
The Golden Bear defense fueled by Deeter, junior defender Kelly Rozenbersky (Roxbury, NJ/Roxbury), freshman BrieAnn Shipkowski (Manheim, PA/Manheim Central) (Manheim/Manheim Central) and Bushe locked down the Warriors for most of the first half as KU led 2-0 at intermission. Kutztown stretched its advantage to 3-0 when Froehlich found Tice in the 53rd minute. East Stroudsburg's Devon Miniscalco scored six minutes later to bring the Warriors to within, 3-1. It was ESU's first goal in three meetings against Kutztown this season.
Bushe, who was tangled among a gaggle of bodies in front of the net, finished the scoring when she slam-dunked a loose ball into the net in the 68th minute. While the quartet of Deeter, Bushe, Shipkowksi and Rozembersky have earned their reputation on defense for helping KU post a school-record 12 shutouts this season, they combined for five of the Golden Bears' eight points against the Warriors.
“This is such a great moment for the girls and I could not be more proud of them,” Burstein said. “I am so proud and so happy for all the girls on this team. They have continued to train hard every day and I am very fortunate to be able to work with them on a daily basis.”
Kutztown is 8-3-2 all-time against California (Pa.), which is ranked 16th in the latest NSCAA poll. The Golden Bears have won four straight over the Vulcans, including the last three by shutout. This will be the first meeting between the two schools since a 3-0 KU victory during the 2007 season. If Kutztown wins, it will advance to its third PSAC title game in program history and its first since 2005.
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