KUTZTOWN, PA (October 26, 2010) – Kutztown University and C.W. Post University treated fans to a sneak preview of all of the elements that make playoff soccer beautiful without the finality of elimination.
In a playoff-type atmosphere that both nationally-ranked teams will most likely experience in November during the NCAA Division II tournament, the 22nd-ranked Golden Bears and 16th-ranked Pioneers battled for 110 entertaining minutes before finishing in a 0-0 draw during a light mist Tuesday afternoon of a non-conference masterpiece. (BOXSCORE)
Playing its penultimate regular season home game, Kutztown (11-3-2 overall) continued its late season surge and ran its unbeaten streak to six matches. Meanwhile, C.W. Post (10-1-4) extended its unbeaten streak to 13 straight. The Pioneers have not lost a match since Sept. 4 when they dropped a 2-1 decision to American International.
The game served its purpose of preparing both teams for postseason play.
“This was a tough game to have to play considering we have to play on Thursday and Saturday,” Kutztown coach Erik Burstein said. “But this is the type of opponent we would see in an NCAA tournament game and we just wanted to come out here and prove to ourselves that we could play. In the second half, I thought we were the better team and we had some chances to score.”
Carolynne Kahl came close to putting the Golden Bears on the board in the second half, but her blast hit the top of the crossbar. Late in the second half, Sam Moyer fired a shot wide of a wide open net. In the overtime, Crystal Zerbe dropped a nice pass off to Lauren Heisse, whose shot just sailed wide of the net.
C.W. Post had its moments as well especially late in the second overtime when it applied plenty of pressure. The Pioneers' Tove Eriksson drilled a perfect shot that appeared destined for the back of the net, but fortunately for KU, Alyssa Hackelberg used all of her 5 foot, 8 inch frame to leap and deflect the ball out of play with her fingertips. C.W. Post also had two corner kicks in the second extra period.
“We worked really hard and we had some opportunities,” Heisse said. “We didn't get the reward we wanted, but we really played great and we feel should good about the tie.”
For Kutztown, Hackelberg was strong in goal, finishing with seven saves. She did most of her best work in the opening half as C.W. Post fired an early barrage of shots at Kutztown before the Golden Bears started to find their groove. The Golden Bears finished with 11 shots. Kelly Rozembersky (Roxbury, N.J./Roxbury) led KU with three shots.
Kutztown returns to action Thursday night when it visits East Stroudsburg University in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division game beginning at 7:30 p.m. This game was rescheduled from last Wednesday evening. The Golden Bears close the regular season Saturday afternoon when they host Mansfield University starting at 1 p.m.
“I thought we played very well,” Burstein said. “We were unlucky not to win the game. We had the chances to do it and any game you play you want to put yourself in a position to win the game and we did that. Again, I thought this was another good performance from us at home.”
--KU--
