INDIANA, Pa. -- No. 6 Kutztown field hockey commanded play Saturday night at IUP, outshooting the Crimson Hawks 14-3, but a fourth-quarter goal from the hosts was the difference in a 1-0 defeat. Despite the setback in the regular season finale, the Golden Bears clinched a playoff spot and will be the sixth seed in the upcoming PSAC tournament.

Crimson Hawk goalkeeper Amanda Zaner stopped all seven shots on target from the Kutztown offense. The lone goal in the game came late in the fourth quarter on an opportunity created by IUP's second corner of the game. Rory Cahil took a shot and Claire Murphy was able to deflect it to the bottom right corner for the score.

The Golden Bears finished the regular season 11-6 overall and 5-5 in conference. Alyssa Donato (Cedarville, N.J./Cumberland Regional) fired a game-high three shots for the Maroon and Gold, Izzy Radel (Harveys Lake, Pa./Lake-Lehman) had two and Katie Dotterweich (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) made one save in the cage,

Kutztown will be appearing in the PSAC Tournament for the third straight season and fourth time under head coach Marci Scheuing. The Bears were quarterfinalists in 2015 and 2018, before reaching the championship game in 2019.

As the sixth seed, Kutztown will journey to third-seeded West Chester for a quarterfinal game against the defending national champion Rams this coming Tuesday, Nov. 2. The two teams are coming off a double overtime thriller last Wednesday. KU handed WCU a 3-2 loss the last time they met in the PSAC tourney in what turned out to be the Rams only loss during their championship season.