Kane Interview

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – In her first collegiate season, freshman forward Gabby Kane (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) of the eighth-ranked Kutztown University women's soccer team played like a veteran as she, along with junior midfielder Maddie Mohr (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown Area), found the back of the net in a 2-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) win against East Stroudsburg University Wednesday afternoon at Keystone Field.
 
The Golden Bears (13-2 overall, 11-2 PSAC) had difficulties getting on the winning end in recent years over the Warriors (10-5-1, 9-4-1), but this is a different year and a different team.
 
Ironically, KU last defeated ESU in a 2-1 fashion on the pitch at Keystone Field back on Oct. 7, 2015.
 
Kutztown and Kane wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard in this one. In just the fourth minute, senior defender Erica Monte Carlo (Sewell, N.J./Washington Township) sent a cross into the 18-yard box that Kane met, took a touch, and drilled one past the Warriors goalie for a 1-0 lead.
 
"It means so much to us to get this win," said Kane. "We worked so hard to get here, and we know it's a big rivalry game so we came out fighting right away. It got close in the end, but we worked our hardest and followed our plan in the end and got it done."
 
It was the second goal of the season for Kane and second in the last three games. She has five total points (two goals, one assist) in that same time frame.
 
Kutztown held most of the possession on their offensive third in the first half. It outshot East Stroudsburg 11-3, and with the windy conditions causing the ball to move, it was a good strategy to fire as many shots, no matter the distance, on goal that it could.
 
Mohr tallied her third goal on the year in the 41st minute to give KU a two-goal advantage before halftime.
 
Senior captain Alyssa Ryan (North Wales, Pa./Wissahickon) began the play by sending in a well-placed ball at the left side of the six-yard box. Schyler Ackerman (Mountville, Pa./Hempfield) was there waiting and one-touched a pass to Mohr who finished easily for the 2-0 lead. It was the first assist this season for Ryan and second for Ackerman.
 
Mohr now has 64 points, seventh all-time in program history. She also ranks fifth with 28 career goals.
 
Junior goalie Jenna Bracken (Wanaque, N.J./Lakeland Regional) finished with seven saves. She ranks first in the PSAC with a .295 goals against average and a .942 save percentage. She is also tops in Division II in save percentage.
 
The win over the Warriors comes a few hours after the Maroon and Gold found out they were voted first in the NCAA Atlantic Region Poll, the first of three polls that will determine the field for the NCAA Tournament next month.
 
The Golden Bears now sit alone atop the PSAC standings with 33 points, two points ahead of second-place and No. 15 Bloomsburg University, a team KU will see next week.
 
Kutztown hits the road for one last time this regular season as it takes on Seton Hill University (9-4-1, 8-4-1), a team that was nationally-ranked for a few weeks this season, on Saturday, Oct. 20, at 1 p.m.