Live Stats (Tuesday, 1 p.m.)  l  PSAC Tournament page (psacsports.org)

Related: Pickett named PSAC Athlete of the Week (Monday)

Tickets:
$10 - Adult
$5 - Student Age
Free - Students with PSAC school ID
No complimentary tickets (only PSAC-distributed passes to conference personnel are accepted)

PSAC Quarterfinals
#1 West Chester d. #8 IUP, 1-0
#2 Kutztown d. #7 Bloomsburg, 3-0
#6 Gannon d. #3 Edinboro, 1-0 (OT)
#4 ESU d. #5 Slippery Rock, 5-0 (Recap)


EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University, the two-time defending PSAC women's soccer champions, returns to the postseason with a PSAC quarterfinal game vs. Slippery Rock on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

ESU (13-4-1, 12-3-1), the No. 4 seed in this year's tournament, is 5-0-1 in the PSAC Tournament in the last two years. Last fall, the seventh-seeded Warriors advanced on penalty kicks following a scoreless tie at West Chester, then posted a 2-0 win vs. Slippery Rock and 2-1 (OT) win vs. Edinboro to win their second straight conference title.

Slippery Rock (10-7-1, 8-7-1), the No. 5 seed, held ESU to a 1-1 (2OT) tie in the first meeting of the season on October 8. SRU took an early lead, which held up until ESU senior midfielder Shea Neal scored the game-tying goal in the 84th minute.

The Warriors are in the PSAC Tournament for the seventh time in 10 seasons under head coach Rob Berkowitz, and have advanced in five of their previous six quarterfinal games.

In the other three quarterfinals, No. 1 seed West Chester (17-0, 16-0) hosts No. 8 IUP (9-8-1, 8-7-1), No. 2 Kutztown (15-3, 13-3) hosts No. 7 Bloomsburg (9-6-2, 8-6-2) and No. 3 Edinboro (13-3-1, 12-3-1) hosts No. 6 Gannon (9-5-3, 9-5-2).

The highest remaining seed after Tuesday's quarterfinals will host the PSAC semifinals (Friday, Nov. 4) and championship game (Sunday, Nov. 6 at 1 p.m.).

The ESU-Slippery Rock winner will face the West Chester-IUP winner in one semifinal - likely at top-seeded West Chester, should the Golden Rams advance.

The Warriors are 3-3-1 vs. this year's tournament teams. They finished the regular season with a 4-1 win at Gannon on Saturday night, rallying from a 1-0 deficit behind a hat trick from sophomore forward Alex Pickett.

ESU's four PSAC championships (1994, 1997, 2014, 2015) are tied with West Chester (2006-07, 2009-10) for the most in conference history.

Slippery Rock, a perennial conference contender, is in the PSAC Tournament for the 13th time in 14 years and won PSAC titles in 2003, 2005 and 2012. The Rock has advanced in its quarterfinal game in nine of its last 12 postseason appearances, including last fall.

ESU is 10-10-4 vs. Slippery Rock all-time, including 3-5-3 under Berkowitz, with six of those 11 meetings going to overtime.

The Warriors grabbed a late winner in a 1-0 (2OT) win in the regular season in 2014, tied 2-2 (2OT) at home in 2015, won 2-0 in the 2015 PSAC semifinals at Gannon and tied 1-1 (2OT) at SRU three weeks ago in the last four meetings.

ESU is led by a senior class, including six starters, that has posted a 55-19-6 record in their four years on campus.

Included in that record is a 47-12-4 mark since the start of the 2014 season - going 39-11-2 (.769) in the regular season, and a remarkable 8-1-2 (.818) in 11 postseason games.

The Warriors were 5-1-1 in seven postseason games last fall, advancing in six straight rounds - all as the lower seed - to win the PSAC and NCAA Division II Atlantic Region titles before falling 2-0 at Bridgeport in their first-ever Elite Eight appearance.

ESU features two All-America selections, one of whom may not be in the lineup due to injury.

Midfielder Shea Neal was the initial first team All-America selection in program history during the 2014 season, when the Warriors went 20-1-1, and is a three-time All-Region first team pick and two-time PSAC Tournament MVP - scoring the game-winning goal in each of the last two PSAC championship games.

Neal has two goals and four assists, including the game-tying goal at Slippery Rock on October 8, in 14 starts this fall while missing four games. She is a proven offensive threat with 24 career goals (6th in school history), 15 assists (t-11th) and 63 points (6th) in 76 starts in the midfield. She has three goals and three assists over the last two postseasons.

Back Laurel Neira, named to the D2CCA All-America second team as a sophomore, is a two-time All-Region and All-PSAC pick. She has made 74 career starts, but suffered an injury in ESU's 1-0 loss at West Chester on October 11.

Neira has been a constant presence on ESU's back line since her freshman year and also had 11 career goals, mostly off corner kicks and set pieces. She had three goals in ESU's first seven games this season.

Junior goalkeeper Jules Harris has been a critical part of the last two PSAC championship teams, earning a pair of All-Region selections. She has a 42-11-3 record in 56 career starts, with a goals against average of 0.73 and 26 shutouts, one from ESU's career record.

This fall, Harris has a 0.56 goals against average, allowing just 10 goals in more than 1600 minutes, and has made 75 saves. She helped the Warriors post nine shutouts, including eight straight vs. PSAC competition from September 7 through October 8 - a span of 780 minutes.

Pickett leads the front line, contributing 12 goals and two assists, and is the only ESU player with more than three goals in the regular season. She has played in 14 games (13 starts), missing four games due to injury, with ESU going 12-0-1 when she has been in the starting lineup.

Dating to her goal in last year's PSAC championship game, Pickett has 15 goals and three assists in her last 19 games for the Warriors.

After Pickett, the Warriors have a varied offense with eight players scoring multiple goals, but none with more than three.

Senior forward Brielyn Hackett has started all 18 games and has two goals and four assists. She has 15 career goals and eight assists, making 45 career starts, and was the Warriors' top scorer (8 goals) while entering primarily as a backup on the 2014 PSAC championship team.

Senior back Hannah Gombos (3 goals, 8 assists) has been an offensive key, particularly taking corner kicks and set pieces. A four-year starter (72 career starts), she has nine career goals and 16 assists - opening her career as a forward before moving to back midway through her sophomore year.

At left back, senior Liia Carpenter is a first-year starter and another former forward. She scored ESU's only goal in a 2-1 loss at then-No. 5 Adelphi.

Senior Andrea Polanco has partnered with Neira at center back in the last two seasons, appearing in the lineup in 40 of ESU's 41 games, and has made 42 career starts overall.

Sophomore Carly Abbott has played in 11 games and made three starts on the back line and scored ESU's first goal in a 5-0 win at UPJ.

In the midfield, junior Sammi Ortiz has joined Neal to give the Warriors two of the top players in the PSAC. Ortiz has started all 63 games in her career (8 goals, 5 assists), including three goals and an assist this season. She was named to the All-PSAC and NSCAA All-Region second teams last fall.

A pair of freshmen have also been vital in the midfield in Danielle Cary (3 goals, 2 assists), who has started all 18 games, and Syd Hicks, who has started 17 games and has moved to center back with Neira out of the lineup.

Multiple players have provided attacking depth, including junior forward Molly Vicari (1 goal, 3 assists), freshman forward Amy Strauser (3 goals), senior midfielder Alyssa Simeone (1 goal) and freshmen midfielders Jules Sicker and Hannah Saggese. Vicari, Simeone, Sicker and Saggese have all made three appearances in the starting lineup.

A win Tuesday would tie ESU's senior class with the 1994-97 group (with All-America forward Terri Meierhofer the only four-year letterwinner) for the Warriors' most wins in a four-year span (56).

The Warriors have an all-time record of 11-6-3 in the PSAC Tournament, including 5-1 at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

ESU has advanced in 13 of its 20 postseason games under Berkowitz, going 11-5-4 with a 2-2 mark in penalty kicks, including last year's PSAC first round at West Chester.