Photo Gallery KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Wednesday's rematch of the 2014 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Final lived up to the billing. Kutztown University took the lead in the 82nd minute, nearly allowed East Stroudsburg to tie the game with less than 20 seconds left, but held on for its third straight victory in a 2-1 win at Keystone Field.
Alaina Curry (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) scored the game-winning goal in the 82nd minute from a rebound off an initial
Alyssa Ryan (North Wales, Pa./Wissahickon) shot. It put KU up 2-1 as the Golden Bears played defensive, kept possession and carried the ball to the opposite corners to kill clock.
Following a KU corner in the final minute, East Stroudsburg got out in transition and forced the KU defense to play the ball back to its own keeper. KU goalie
Imani Taylor (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) had her clear attempt blocked by East Stroudsburg's Alex Pickett with 14 seconds left. Pickett took a dribble and put the ball in the back of the net, only to learn that a hand ball had been called against her on the block attempt, nullifying the goal as the final horn sounded.
The Golden Bears (6-3-1, 6-3 PSAC) rejoiced as they avenged their loss to the Warriors (6-4, 6-4) in last year's PSAC Final. KU held advantages in shots (15-7) and corner kicks (9-4), applied pressure on ESU for most of the afternoon, and turned in one of its best performances of the season.
"We had a really good attitude throughout and I thought we did a really good job dealing with the various challenges ESU puts on you," head coach
Erik Burstein said. "They have very good midfield players and I felt we did a good job man-marking through the midfield. For large parts of the game, leading up to the first goal, I thought we did a good job of dealing with the various challenges that they pose.
"Early on in the season, when the chips were down, we had a hard time dealing with different types of pressure and issues – I don't think we are at that point anymore," Burstein continued. "I thought we played well today and we had a host of good opportunities offensively. The way it ended was disappointing, but at the end of the day, we got a result against a very good team."
Senior captain
Diana Malanga (Lavallette, N.J./St. Rose) scored her second goal of the year and 18th of her career (ninth all-time at KU).
Brooke May (East Berlin, Pa./Dover Area), this week's PSAC co-Athlete of the Week, sent in a corner kick in the 18th minute and Malanga came up with the loose ball after multiple deflections and scored on a low shot to the far left post.
East Stroudsburg answered on a similar corner kick in the 68th minute, when Sammi Jo Hughes headed in a cross from Hannah Gombos to tie the game at 1-1.
With the win, Kutztown improves to a 6-3 conference record, 18 points, for a third-place tie with Edinboro and ESU. The top-eight teams qualify for the PSAC Tournament, beginning on Nov. 3.
Taylor, KU's freshman keeper, kept the Golden Bears in the game with some strong play in the box. She intercepted opposing corners and outside of a few minor miscues, gave Kutztown a very strong effort.
"We have two very good goalkeepers, something a lot of teams in the PSAC do not have the luxury of having," Burstein noted of the KU tandem of Taylor and sophomore
Deanna Messner (Willow Grove, Pa./Archbishop Wood). "We're utilizing them both, and it shouldn't be surprising to see both of them getting quality time for us. They both play a major part in what we are doing."
The Golden Bears concluded a tough six-game stretch, where it played against five PSAC Tournament teams from last year, and came out with a 4-2 record and in the top half of the conference standings.
"I'm very happy," Burstein noted on his team's play during the six-game stretch. "Every game in the PSAC is very competitive, but when you look at quality teams and when you have six of them in a row, I think any coach would be satisfied with a .500 record in that stretch, knowing that anything better than .500 is going to be great. We went 4-2 in that run and it puts us in a great place moving forward. ESU is close to us in the table, it helps to have the head-to-head advantage with them, but now we move on to Clarion, which is a very difficult place to play and will pose a lot of challenges for us."
Kickoff on Saturday, Oct. 10 at Clarion University is set for 1 p.m.
