KUTZTOWN, Pa.-- After a hard-fought 2022 campaign, the Kutztown University women's soccer team earned the right to battle for the national championship, being named the seventh seed in the Atlantic region for this year's NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears will square off against No. 2 Frostburg State (18-1-2, 14-1-1 MEC) in the first round of the big dance at Gannon University in Erie, Pa., on Friday, Nov. 11. The game will kick off at noon.
KU faced an up-and-down regular season in 2022. The Golden Bears (9-5-4, 8-4-4 PSAC) opened the regular season 4-0-1 through the first five games, while only allowing one goal, before dropping the next two contests to ranked opponents in West Chester and Bloomsburg. KU then rattled off a 10-game stretch where it earned at least a point in eight of those contests. It was good enough to earn the third seed in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Division for the PSAC Tournament, which ended in the quarterfinals after a 2-0 loss to Bloomsburg.
It's the 11th time in program history that the Golden Bears have made the NCAA Tournament. KU holds a 4-7-3 record at the big dance, which includes a run to the Final Four in 2016. In last year's edition of the tournament, KU was eliminated by West Chester in penalties in the Second Round.
Graduate student Kayla Argen (Cresco, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) has had yet another spectacular year in the Maroon and Gold, leading KU in goals (7) and assists (8) while earning All-PSAC First Team honors. The Golden Bears' strength in 2022 has been on the defensive side of the ball, which ranks third in the PSAC East in goals against (15). It's a defensive unit anchored by sophomore Bridget Curtis (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South), an All-PSAC First-Teamer, and senior Kylee MacLeod (Pottstown, Pa./Owen J. Roberts), an All-PSAC Second-Teamer.
As for Frostburg State, it's the first time in program history that the Bobcats have made the NCAA Tournament at the Division II level. They earned the second seed in the Atlantic region following an 18-win campaign, which tied a school record. FSU earned the first seed in the Mountain East Conference Tournament and made a run to the championship game, but it ultimately fell to Fairmount State in penalties.
The Bobcats go as Toni Fiocco-Mizer goes. The junior from Severna Park, Md., bagged 14 goals, the fourth-best mark in the Mountain East, along with five assists. FSU also has great secondary scoring, with four other players scoring five or more goals in 2022. The team averages 19.48 shots per game, which leads the MEC and is the seventh-highest mark in the country.
FSU's strength also lies on the defensive side of the field. The Bobcats have the highest shutout percentage in the nation (.714), notching 15 shutouts while only allowing 10 goals in 21 games. Junior goalkeeper Ashley Bilger has played the majority of minutes in net for the Bobcats, earning seven individual shutouts.
The Golden Bears and Bobcats have only met once before, with KU emerging victorious 2-1. Savanna Harrison scored the game-winning goal as time expired to secure the victory on Sept. 5, 2021.
KU has a 1-1-1 record against MEC schools at the NCAA Tournament. The Golden Bears were bested by Notre Dame (Ohio) 2-1 in the First Round of the 2017 tournament, followed by a 0-0 tie against West Virginia Wesleyan in the First Round of the 2018 edition, where WVWU advanced on penalties 4-1. Kutztown's win came against Charleston (W. Va.) in a 1-0 Second Round triumph in 2016, which was the year when the Golden Bears made the Final Four.
If KU were to defeat Frostburg State, the winner between No. 3 Gannon and No. 6 Fairmount State would be waiting for a Second Round matchup on Sunday, Nov. 13, at 3 p.m. The Golden Bears first have work to do against FSU as they hunt for the program's first victory in the NCAA Tournament since the 2016 Elite Eight.
