KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- After an early scare, the No. 2 Kutztown University women's soccer (15-1-5, 12-0-4 PSAC East) battled back to take down No. 7 Concord (12-7-2, 10-4-1 MEC) 3-2 in a thrilling NCAA First Round affair at Keystone Field Friday night.
It was the second comeback victory for KU against the Mountain Lions this season, and similar to the first game, Lexy Endres (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) netted a brace for her 9th and 10th goals of the season. Katelyn Economopoulos (Grantville, Pa./Lower Dauphin) had the other goal for the Golden Bears. Isabella Rossetti (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) came off the bench and registered two assists on Endres' two goals, while Allie Tierney (Galloway, N.J./Absegami), who was also a substitute, had one assist.
The Mountain Lions started the game on the front foot and were immediately rewarded. Alexa Todd knocked down a bouncing ball in the box to Leah Fleming, who rifled it into the upper corner for the 1-0 lead only three minutes in. The goal awakened the Golden Bears, as it was all KU from that point until halftime. In the first half, KU outshot Concord 13-1 and had a whopping 13 corners compared to zero from the Mountain Lions.
After chance after chance, KU finally found the breakthrough in the 19th minute. On one of KU's many corner kicks, Economopoulos found herself on the end of some chaos in the box and fired the ball toward the goal for it to be saved on the line. After some deliberation between officials, the goal was awarded to tie the match at 1-1.
It was then the Lexy Endres (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) show. In the 37th minute, Rossetti laid a ball off to the senior midfielder who unleashed a rocket into the upper left-hand corner to make it 2-1. Then one minute later, a Rossetti cross found the head of Tierney, who knocked it to Endres to make it 3-1.
Concord came out on fire in the second half and was rewarded with a goal from Sydney Tucker in the 63rd minute. The Mountain Lions were relentless and had some great looks at goal, but they couldn't solve Emme Wolfel (Pottstown, Pa./Pottstown) and the Golden Bears' defense. KU did a great job down the stretch to kill some clock and hold on for the 3-2 victory.
The Golden Bears ended the game with a 20-7 shots advantage and a 7-4 shots on goal advantage. KU ended with 18 corner kicks compared to Concord's 1. Tuva Appelgren and Katie Garratt both saw yellow for the Mountain Lions.
It's the ninth all-time win for the Golden Bears in the NCAA Tournament and the second straight-year KU has won at least one game. One on the side, the Golden Bears matched their season-high goal total in a game. On the other side, it's the second in two games and the second time this season KU has allowed two goals in a match.
The Golden Bears' next opponent will be the all-too-familiar Golden Rams of West Chester. No. 3 West Chester took down No. 6 Frostburg State 1-0 in the earlier game at Keystone Field on Friday. KU took four of a possible six points against the Golden Rams in the regular season, while West Chester went on to win the PSAC at Keystone Field last weekend. The Golden Bears will look to avenge last season's 1-0 Sweet 16 loss to the hands of the Golden Rams.
Kick off on Sunday, Nov. 19 is set for noon from Keystone Field.
