Full NCAA DII Tournament Bracket  |  PSAC Final Recap (ESU 1, Gannon 0)

EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University is officially heading back to the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Tournament for the first time since 2008, with the Warriors ranked as the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Region. They will play at No. 2 West Chester in a second round contest  at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon in a rematch of last Friday's PSAC semifinal.

ESU clinched an automatic spot in the tournament with its 1-0 victory over Gannon in the PSAC championship game on Sunday. The Warriors will make their 24th lifetime appearance in an NCAA tournament. They have qualified 20 times for the Division II tournament, a total which ranks as the fifth most among all DII institutions, and they also advanced to the Division I playoffs four times from 1964-71.

The winner of Saturday's game will take on either No. 1 Charleston or No. 4 West Virginia Wesleyan in the Atlantic Region final the following weekend. Charleston (16-1-2), which has won three-straight region titles, suffered its first loss of the year in the Mountain East Conference title game to West Virginia Wesleyan (12-5-6) by a 2-1 final on Sunday.

ESU's PSAC title was its first since 2007 and the 20th overall in program history, a figure which is tied with Lock Haven for the most among PSAC schools. Included in that run was a 0-0 draw in the semifinals against top-seeded West Chester, with the Warriors advancing 5-4 on penalty kicks. ESU last played the Golden Rams in the NCAA tournament in 2002. The teams played to a 1-1 draw before the Warriors advanced 4-2 on PK's.

ESU enters the NCAA Tournament with an 11-1-1 record over the past 13 games. They have allowed only one goal over the past 799:39 minutes of game action, a stretch which spans nine contests dating back to Oct. 10.

Junior midfielder Jo Panuccio provided the game-winning goal in Sunday's PSAC title game, while junior goalkeeper Will Boerema preserved the 1-0 shutout with five saves in goal. Panuccio is one of nine players with at least three goals on the year; the Warriors have outscored opponents by a 45-15 margin overall through the season's first 19 contests.

A full tournament preview will be available later this week. The PSAC will also reveal its 2017 All-PSAC selections and major award winners for men's soccer at 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

ESU NOTES
* Fall 2017 becomes the second time that ESU has had 3 sports (field hockey, men's soccer, women's soccer) selected for NCAA Championships in the same season (Fall 1987 - men's soccer, field hockey and men's cross country)