KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- On Monday evening, the Kutztown University women's soccer team heard its name called as one of the 56 teams that qualified for the 2023 NCAA DII Women's Soccer Tournament. Now, the second-seeded Golden Bears are set to host No. 7 Concord on Friday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. in the First Round.
Keystone Field will also be the site of a First Round matchup between No. 3 West Chester and No. 6 Frostburg State at 1 p.m. on Friday. The winner of those two games will match up at Keystone Field on Sunday, Nov. 19 at noon in the Second Round.
Tickets will cost $8 for adults, while students with I.D., senior citizens, and children between the ages of 2-12 will be $5. You can purchase tickets by CLICKING HERE. Tickets purchased for Friday will be valid for both games, while a ticket bought for Sunday will only be valid for the Second Round game.
The Golden Bears (14-1-5, 12-0-4 PSAC East) find themselves in the NCAA Tournament for the third-straight year and 12th time in program history. KU has a 6-8-3 record all-time at the big dance, with the best run coming in 2016 when Erik Burstein's squad made the Final Four, before falling to the eventual champions Western Washington.
Before last season, KU had been one-and-done in its previous three appearances in the tournament since the 2016 run. In 2022, the Golden Bears entered the region as the seventh and final seed after an underwhelming regular-season. KU then defeated Frostburg State and Gannon en route to an appearance in the Sweet 16, where it fell to eventual national runners-up West Chester on a last minute goal.
The Golden Bears' have little history against their First Round opponent Concord, only meeting four times with KU winning all four games. One of the few matchups against the Mountain Lions actually came back on Sept. 2, where Lexy Endres (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) scored a second-half brace to lift KU to a 2-1 comeback win.
Concord comes into this matchup with a 12-6-2 overall record, with a 10-4-1 mark in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. The Mountain Lions last game came in the MEC Tournament Semifinal, where they fell to Frostburg State 3-0. Eighth-year head coach Luke Duffy's squad is the second-highest scoring team in the MEC, averaging three goals per game, and sits second in the conference in total shots (373). The Mountain Lions scored five or more goals in seven games this season, including a 9-0 triumph over Salem on Oct. 11.
Junior Sydeny Tucker leads the teams with 11 goals and two assists for 24 points despite not starting a single game this season. Sophomore Reeanna Cook and graduate student Alexa Todd have seven goals and five assists a piece for 19 points. Junior Nora Voisey leads the team with eight assists. The goalkeeping duties have been split between Sarah Pattillo and Savannah Bates, but Bates has started in the recent games for Concord. The Mountain Lions will be seeking their first NCAA Tournament win in program history.
The Golden Bears come into the weekend after falling to Gannon in the PSAC Semifinal. In its only loss of the entire season, KU conceded two goals for the first time this season after costly turnovers in its own defensive end. The Golden Bears will look to clean up those mistakes and get back to the soccer that got them the No. 1 seed in the PSAC East and secured the first unbeaten regular-season in program history.
The Golden Bears have only conceded nine goals all season, which is the ninth-best mark in the country. PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year Bridget Curtis (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South), All-PSAC East First Teamer Dana Wentz (Lancaster, Pa./Conestoga Valley), and the underclassmen duo of Skyler Jordan (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth) and Maura Day (Huntington Valley, Pa./Abington) have formed one of the most formidable defensive units in the Atlantic region.
KU desperately needs to get the offensive pieces of the squad firing in order to make a deep run in the tournament. Caroline McDonald (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) has had a spectacular second-year in the Maroon & Gold, leading the team with 22 points (6 goals, 10 assists) en route to an All-PSAC First Team selection. Senior midfielder Lexy Endres (Medford, N.J./Shawnee), who was also named to the All-PSAC East First Team, leads the team with eight goals, followed by the PSAC East Freshman of the Year Katelyn Economopoulos (Grantville, Pa./Lower Dauphin) with seven.
The winner between KU and Concord, will face the winner of No. 3 West Chester and No. 6 Frostburg at Keystone Field on Sunday. West Chester comes into the tournament fresh off another PSAC Championship, which they won at Keystone Field. The Golden Rams are led by PSAC East Athlete of the Year Faith Matter and are looking to get back into the National Championship game. Frostburg State fell to Charleston (W. Va.) in the MEC Championship game and come into the weekend with an impressive 17-2-2 record.
The winner of the Second Round game will advance to the Sweet 16 at a place and time yet to be determined.
