KUTZTOWN, Pa. -- After a historic 2023 regular season that saw the Golden Bears go unbeaten for the first time in program history, the Kutztown University women's soccer team is set to face off against No. 4 Bloomsburg in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament Quarterfinal Monday night at Keystone Field. Kick off is set for 6 p.m. 

The Golden Bears come into the postseason as the No. 1 seed and are seeking the program's first PSAC Tournament crown. KU (13-0-5, 12-0-4 PSAC East) enters this contest riding the high of back-to-back wins, including a hard-fought 1-0 victory over East Stroudsburg to end the season. Led by center backs Bridget Curtis (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) and Skyler Jordan (Nazareth, Pa./Nazareth), the Golden Bears have the best defense in the PSAC, only allowing seven goals all season. Before conceding against Mansfield in the second to last game of the season, KU was riding an eight-game shutout streak. 

Bloomsburg comes into this game boasting an 8-5-5 record, 8-4-4 in the PSAC East. Despite the lopsided record in favor of the Golden Bears, the Huskies have shut out KU all season. Both matchups ended in a 0-0 draw, with the Huskies nearly beating the Golden Bears in the second matchup at Steph Pettit Stadium. Bloomsburg is the only PSAC East that KU did not record a win against this season. 

The Huskies match up strength-for-strength with KU, boasting the third-best defense in the conference with only 12 goals allowed. Goalkeeper Riley Spingler is the star of the Huskies' defense, leading the conference with a .880 save percentage while making the seventh-most saves per game (4.56). The offense for BU has been scoring by committee, with 11 Huskies finding the back of the net this season. Lauren Bull leads the team in points with 11, netting three goals and dishing out five assists. Amanda Stoll leads the team with four goals on the season. 

KU separates itself from Bloomsburg on the offensive side of the ball. Sophomore forward Caroline McDonald (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) leads the team with 22 points (six goals, ten assists), with her 10 assists being the fourth-best mark in the conference. Freshman Katelyn Economopoulos (Grantville, Pa./Lower Dauphin) and senior Lexy Endres (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) are tied for the team lead with seven goals. The previously mentioned Bridget Curtis (Warrington, Pa./Central Bucks South) has been a weapon on set pieces offensively, netting a career-high four goals, three of which were game-winners. The Golden Bears have the eighth-most goals for in the conference with 27, while Bloomsburg sits in 13th with 20. 

The PSAC Tournament has not favored the Golden Bears in recent memory, especially against Bloomsburg. Last season, the Huskies knocked KU out in the quarterfinals with a 2-0 victory. The Golden Bears haven't gotten past the quarter final stage of this tournament since 2017, when they defeated Seton Hill 3-0. Erik Burstein and company have a great chance to buck that trend in a game that is shaping up to be a defensive slugfest at Keystone Field. 

If the Golden Bears win, they will host the PSAC Tournament semifinals and final at Keystone Field on Friday, Nov. 10, and Sunday, Nov. 12. The winner of this game regardless will face off against the winner of No. 2 Gannon and No. 3 Slippery Rock out of the PSAC West on Friday.