KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The Kutztown University women's soccer team trailed deep into the second half on Saturday, but rallied to score two goals within ten minutes of each other down the stretch to defeat Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) rival Shippensburg, 2-1, in front of a large crowd at Keystone Field.
 
Kutztown (4-2-1, 3-2 PSAC) out-shot Shippensburg (2-3-1, 2-3-1 PSAC) 26-8 on the afternoon and held a 6-1 advantage in corners. The Golden Bears were relentless in the second half, holding an 18-1 shot advantage in the final period alone.
 
For the large majority of the game Kutztown struggled to find a rhythm offensively and found itself trailing 1-0 through the first 69 minutes.
 
In the 70th minute, junior forward Alaina Curry (York, Pa./Dallastown Area) gave KU the equalizer off of a corner kick from sophomore Brooke May (East Berlin, Pa./Dover Area).  May placed a beautiful, soaring ball into the box that found Katie Jaxheimer (New Cumberland, Pa./Cedar Cliff)'s foot and ricocheted off of the Shippensburg goalkeeper's hand.  Quick reactions and alert play were critical as Curry found herself in the right spot to deposit the ball in the back of the net.
 
It was evident that KU held the momentum from then on, as it continued to keep up the pressure on the Raiders and rarely allowed the ball to leave the offensive zone.
 
Less than 10 minutes later, junior forward Dana Wong (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) found freshman Alyssa Ryan (North Wales, Pa./Wissahickon) in the box and Ryan put a spin on the ball that found the corner of the net, giving KU the 2-1 lead in the 79th minute.
 
Stout defense and control of possession allowed Kutztown to finish off the game cleanly.
 
Senior captain Diana Malanga (Lavallette, N.J./St. Rose) along with Curry played perhaps the best games of their careers. Each played outstanding defensively and showed a sensational amount of effort. Their aggressive, yet smart play was a crucial factor for the Golden Bears.
 
"Saturday's performance by our team is the type of performance that gets you into the playoffs. We showed lot of hard work and grit. That's great stuff," said head coach Erik Burstein.
 
Kutztown goalkeeper Deanna Messner (Willow Grove, Pa./Archbishop Wood) turned away three shots in the match.
 
Notably, Kutztown used a variety of players in the game with eight substitutes coming off the bench.
 
"We attract a very good level of soccer player at KU," said Burstein. "Any one of our players is capable of playing at a high level, so we know that we're going to run into times where we have to utilize our depth to help us see out a game, and we did that today."

Kutztown returns to the pitch on Wednesday, Sept. 23 in Erie, Pa. to square off against the No. 8 team in Division II Gannon University at 2 p.m. from McConnell Family Stadium.