KUTZTOWN, Pa. – If any fan happened to miss the first minute of the Kutztown University women's soccer game on Saturday afternoon at Keystone Field, they missed the eventual game-winning goal.
 
Freshman Schyler Ackerman (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield)'s first career score just 30 seconds after the first whistle held up as the game-winner as KU knocked off No. 11 Edinboro in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) action.

Kutztown's (4-2, 3-2 PSAC) blistering start came from a ball played to the corner to Alaina Curry (York, Pa./Dallastown Area). She controlled it, dribbled past a defender and sent a cross right in front of net. The goalkeeper was able to get a hand on it but it deflected right into the middle of the box to a waiting Ackerman, who controlled it and sent it into the back of the net for the sudden lead.
 
KU had to defend that slim one-goal margin until the 77th minute when freshman Madison McLelland (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) finally gave the Golden Bears insurance with her team-leading third goal on the year. Ashley Engler (Williamstown, N.J./Williamstown) pressured an attempted clearance by the Edinboro goalkeeper, blocking it, and the ball bounced right to McLelland's feet just outside of the box. With a wide open net, the rookie calmly sent the score right into the center of the net for the 2-0 advantage.
 
That was one of 21 shot attempts for Kutztown on the afternoon as the Golden Bears more than doubled Edinboro in the category, 21-10. The shots on goal favored KU, 11-4.
 
Kutztown goalkeeper Imani Taylor (Voorhees, N.J./Eastern Regional) was not called upon to work often but when she was she came up with three saves for her first career shutout, the Golden Bears' second in the last three games. The backline of Olivia Novak (Manheim, Pa./Manheim Central (Temple)), Cassie Schmidt (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall), Morgan Staley (Landenberg, Pa./Kennett) and Katie Miller (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) played all 90 minutes in front of her.
 
Edinboro (5-1, 4-1 PSAC) did answer KU's first goal with five shots in the next 19 minutes, including two on the KU frame, but nothing that was too troublesome for Taylor. An attempt on net early in the 20th minute would be the Fighting Scots' final shot for 45 minutes of gameplay. EU's next shot on goal did not come until the 71st minute.
 
It was Kutztown that had the best chances entering halftime. Sub Emily Zwiercan (Reinholds, Pa./Cocalico) came on in the 24th minute and just over two minutes later had a close-range header denied by Sarah Baskey. Maddie Mohr (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area) also forced an impressive Baskey save three minutes later, as did Kristina Miller (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) on an impressive volley from just outside the box in 37th.
 
McLelland was destined for a goal as she recorded the first three shots of the second half, two of which were on net, including being denied point blank on a shot from just a couple yards away 11 minutes out of the break.
 
Taylor came up with her lone stop of the second half on the aforementioned shot in the 71st minute before KU came up with a team save on a scramble inside the box just over four minutes after the second goal.
 
Kutztown continues PSAC play on Wednesday at Shippensburg, a team it is even with in the league standings at nine points. First whistle is set for 4 p.m.