EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Kutztown University field hockey team continued its impressive run and proved that it compete and outlast playoff-bound competition on Saturday afternoon. Kutztown's Anna Behm (Kutztown, Pa./Kutztown) netted her first career hat-trick including the game-winner in overtime to lift the Golden Bears to a 3-2 victory at East Stroudsburg.
 
The Golden Bears (9-9, 7-7 PSAC) entered Saturday with a spot in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) playoffs on the line. Not only did Kutztown need to win, but it needed other games to fall in its favor as well. The stakes were high, and the Golden Bears turned in one of their best performances of the season and truly left all they had on the field.
 
Ironically, in last year's season-finale, these two teams met with a postseason bid on the line. The Warriors scored the game-winner with 54 seconds left that advanced them to the postseason and left the Golden Bears extremely disappointed, but confident that the program was heading in a positive direction.
 
Entering Saturday, East Stroudsburg (10-8, 8-6) had already clinched a spot in the playoffs and was ranked in the top four in the PSAC and seventh in Division II. Kutztown looked right past the national-ranking next to East Stroudsburg's name and wasted no time getting the early momentum.
 
Behm scored in the third minute of action on an assist from Rayann Fink (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood). ESU answered in the 20th minute to tie the game heading into halftime.
 
The Warriors took a 2-1 lead eight minutes into the second half, and Kutztown needed to keep its head up and focus on the task at hand. Courtney Ueberroth (Stevens, Pa./Cocalico) found Behm for her second goal of the afternoon in the 52nd minute, tying the game at 2-2 and ultimately forcing overtime.
 
Less than three minutes into overtime, Behm scored her career-high 19th goal of the season to bring an exciting end to the regular season for the Golden Bears.
 
Kutztown was left in a three-way tie for the final two play spots, but unfortunately for KU, it was the lone team not to have its playoff ticket punched.
 
Behm's three-goal effort was the first of her career, and her fifth multi-goal game of the season. Her 19 goals in 2014 rank third in KU single-season history, and she will enter her senior season in 2015 with 34 career goals for eighth in program history.
 
Second-year head coach Marci Scheuing has now increased Kutztown's win total in each of the past two seasons. KU finishes the season at 9-9 overall and a 7-7 record in the PSAC, the most conference wins for the program since 2007.
 
Kutztown achieved some great success with memorable moments in 2014. It opened its conference season with a double-overtime win at Bloomsburg, and beat the Huskies twice in a season for the first time since 1983. KU won both of its overtime games, and ended the season winning three of its final five games.