KUTZTOWN, Pa. (November 11, 2011)—The Kutztown University women's soccer team is set to host Slippery Rock University in the second round of the NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. at Keystone Field.
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The Rock (15-4-2 overall) is ranked 23rd in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Top 25 poll. SRU, seeded No.3 in the Atlantic Regional defeated No.6 Alderson-Broaddus, 2-0 on Friday, at Keystone Field.
Alderson-Broaddus made its first appearance in the NCAA tournament and finished the season with an overall record of 10-7-3.
Erin Storck and Shelby Ward each scored goals and Lucy Hannon and Nicole Krueger each handed out assists to lead Slippery Rock to the win. Defensively, The Rock allowed just two shots in the game and Goalie Lisa Rodgers recorded her 11th shutout of the season.
Goalie Kate Laird made two saves and allowed two goals in the loss for Alderson-Broaddus.
Kutztown, ranked 15th in the NSCAA poll is the No.2 seed in the Atlantic Regional. KU and SRU have spent a lot of time together as Sunday's game will be their third meeting of the season. Kutztown has had the upper hand this year, recording two shutouts over the Rock. The last time the Golden Bears played SRU was in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) semifinal on Nov. 4, where they ended the Rock's 11 consecutive winning streak and shutout streak with a 4-0 win. With the win, KU set a school record for wins in a season (16).
KU scored three goals in the first half, two belonging to
Sarah Black (Hummelstown, PA/Lower Dauphin).
Crystal Zerbe (Myerstown, PA/Tulpehocken) also scored in the 40th minute to push KU to a 3-0 lead at half.
Janine Valerio (Washington Township, NJ/Washington Township) closed the scoring cap when she scored in the 59th minute.
Maria Borland (Hagerstown, MD/Hagerstown),
Rubi Mink (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) and Samantha Moyer each had assists in the game.
In their first matchup of the season,
Carolynne Kahl (Bethel, PA/Tuplehocken) scored in the 88th minute to help KU slip away with the 1-0 win. SRU leads the all-time series, 9-6-1.
Sunday's game promises to be a thriller, with both teams looking to continue its postseason run. KU has been led by several different Golden Bears this season and recently placed four athletes on All-PSAC teams. M. Borland and Zerbe were named to the first team, while
Stephanie Borland (Hagerstown, MD/Hagerstown) and
Laura Hearn (Wall, N.J./St. Rose) were selected to the second team.
Kutztown's depth has proved to be its most dangerous weapon, as 11 different Golden Bears have scored. However Slippery Rock has also proved that its backline is capable of limiting its opponents in the box.
“I think it's going to be a totally different game from the last two,”
Carolynne Kahl (Bethel, PA/Tuplehocken) said. “It's going to be a hard game. It'd be great to get a win in the tournament and advance. If we play the way we know how, we'll be fine.
“This is going to be such an exciting game,”
Megan Black (Yardville, NJ/Steinert) said. “We've beat them twice this year but that doesn't mean anything now that we're in Regionals. We've been practicing a lot and we're hoping to come out with a win on Sunday.”
