KUTZTOWN, Pa. — The Kutztown University field hockey seniors Erin Reynolds (York, PA/Central York), Jamie Koenig (Springtown, PA/Palisades), and Elly Skinner (Prompton, PA/Honesdale) will take their final home stand as Golden Bears on Saturday, Nov. 2, in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) match against East Stroudsburg University at University Field beginning at 1 p.m.
After a successful homecoming weekend, and the Golden Bears' first two shutouts of the season, the three seniors will fight for a chance in post-season play against the Warriors (7-9, 4-4 PSAC).
If Kutztown (7-8, 3-5 PSAC) wins this game, the Golden Bears remain alive in the playoff hunt in hopes of making their first post-season appearance since 2009.
For KU to make the PSAC playoffs, it will need to defeat East Stroudsburg, and have Mercyhurst lose at home to Bloomsburg. This would give Kutztown the No. 6 seed in the playoffs and would face West Chester on the road on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
If Kutztown wins, Indiana (PA) wins, and Mercyhurst loses, Kutztown would be the No. 6 seed in the playoffs. However, if Kutztown wins and Mercyhurst wins, Indiana (PA) would be the No. 6 seed with its head-to-head win over Kutztown earlier this season.
After being a huge contributor to the field hockey team, Reynolds enters her last home game as a Golden Bear. Since her freshman year, she has been a major component in the midfield. She had an excellent freshman season, earning PSAC East Freshman of the Year, and since then has earned All-PSAC honors during her freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons. In addition to her success, she leads the Golden Bears with eight goals and four assists for 20 points. Throughout her four years, Reynolds has accumulated 22 goals and 15 assists for 59 points.
"Elly, Jamie, and I are the only three left out of the 11 who started our freshmen year," Reynolds said. "I am definitely going to miss them because we stuck through it the entire four years. It is going to be a bittersweet ending, of course, because better things are coming; but not being able to see them every day and play with them will be a loss."
After a season- ending injury last year, Koenig entered the season with the mindset of a champion. She was not going to let what happened to her last year determine her fate for this season. As a forward, she leads the team with seven assists and is third in goals with four. She was named the PSAC Athlete of the Week after her outstanding performance against 10th-ranked Mercyhurst University, netting her first career hat-trick lifting the team to a 5-4 victory over the Lakers.
Finally, Skinner is most recognized for her phenomenal stick skills and her patience. In the midfield, she is able to control the ball with ease and dribble around any opposing team's defense. Her fluid defense allows her to easily transition to the offensive attack. She has played in 68 games, and has totaled three goals and five assists for 11 points.
"Jamie, Erin, and Elly are not only unbelievable field hockey players, but they are great students, great people, and they are awesome to be around," head coach Marci Scheuing said. "They were the three captains this year, and they have done such a great job of stepping into that leadership role. Elly and Erin hold the midfield together, and Jamie is great on offense. It will definitely be huge holes to fill next season, but I know that they are going to do great things in their lives."
It will be a battle that will be fought to the very end as both teams have something to fight for; a chance at post-season play. Reynolds, Skinner, and Koenig will lead the Golden Bears into a game that is going to be fast, aggressive, and tough. The veterans know what to expect, and it is up to them to go in with confidence.
"I truly believe that we have one of the best defenses in the PSAC," Scheuing said. "In regards to East Stroudsburg, I believe we can contain their leading scorer (Ally Roth, who has 19 goals), and limit her touches."
Last season, Kutztown fell twice to East Stroudsburg University. In the final meeting between the two, Kutztown fell 4-3 at University Field. The Warriors were up 3-0 in the first half, but despite the three-goal deficit, the Golden Bears came back and scored three unanswered goals. Kutztown got the game-tying goal from Anna Behm (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) to make it 3-3 at the end of regulation. Even with the comeback, the Warriors scored first in overtime to give them the 4-3 victory.
"Our kids need to be level-headed," Scheuing said. "We want them to think about what Kutztown is doing instead of what other teams are doing. We want to use the things that we are good at, which is small passing. Defensively, we want to continue to do a great job back there, and we will need to finish offensively. Anna and Jamie have done a nice job, but sometimes we have trouble scoring against tough defenses, and we want them to work on finishing in front of the cage, and having aggression inside of the circle."
The final game against East Stroudsburg will begin at 1 p.m. at University Field.
