INDIANA, Pa. – With both teams tied for sixth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) standings and the final berth in PSAC Tournament on the line, the No. 10 Kutztown University field hockey team traveled to Indiana (Pa.) for an essential elimination match in its regular season finale on Saturday afternoon.
 
Deadlocked through 59 minutes, it was Indiana's Matti Reightler that would send her team to the postseason, dribbling into the net with 11:23 remaining for what turned out to be the only goal of the afternoon.
 
Just over a minute before the eventual game-winner, Madison Stewart (New Castle, Del./William Penn) had a shot saved from a penalty corner for what turned out to be KU's final shot of the contest, as the Golden Bears could not test the Indiana cage one final time following the goal.
 
While the shot totals were nearly identical, a slight 7-6 (4-3) edge for Kutztown, the Golden Bears were the team that applied more offensive pressure as they had a 12-6 advantage in penalty corners for the match, including 8-3 in the second half. Unfortunately, KU managed just four shots from those 12 corners, with only two of them testing Indiana goalkeeper Alyssa Lerda.
 
Ending the season 10-8, Kutztown finishes with back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time since 2010-11. Earlier in the year, the Golden Bears reached No. 4 in the national rankings for the second year in a row. They were attempting to qualify for back-to-back PSAC Tournaments for the first time since 2007-09.  
 
Indiana (10-7, 5-5 PSAC) tested Chardonnay Hope (New Castle, Del./William Penn) with the first shot of the match in the third minute and the junior made one of her saves on the afternoon. Moments later in the fifth and sixth minutes, Megan Tiwold (Northampton, Pa./Northampton) and Stewart had attempts 35 seconds apart denied by Lerda. The only other shot on frame in the opening 35 minutes came from Stewart with just under two minutes remaining.
 
That would be the only save either goalkeeper would have to make until Stewart's effort in the 59th minute.
 
Stewart, Tiwold and Hope all end the regular season in the top-6 of the PSAC statistical rankings. Stewart is second in shots per game (4.83), while Tiwold currently ranks sixth with nine goals. Hope is in the top-five with a 1.23 goals against average, .810 save percentage and five shutouts.