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EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University, which used a last-minute goal in a 3-2 win at Kutztown on Saturday to qualify for this week's PSAC field hockey tournament, will travel to West Chester for its first round game on Tuesday at 4 p.m.

The Warriors (8-10, 5-5), the tournament's No. 6 seed, will face No. 3 seed West Chester (13-4, 8-2) for the third time this year. The Golden Rams won 8-1 at home on September 21, and 4-2 at ESU on October 5.

ESU is in the PSAC Tournament for the 11th time in 30 seasons under head coach Sandy Miller, and the second time since 2003. The Warriors are 2-8 in their first 10 first-round games, reaching the final in 2001 and 2010. They are 5-13 in PSAC Tournament games under Miller overall, including consolation games.

A win over West Chester would be the Warriors' first since 1960. West Chester, which reclassified to NCAA Division II prior to the 2011 season, has won the last two DII championships and holds a 31-4-6 advantage in the all-time series. WCU is 28-0-3 in the last 31 meetings with ESU's last win (4-1) coming 53 years ago. The Golden Rams are 6-0 against ESU in the last three years.

The winner advances to face No. 2 seed Millersville (16-2, 8-2) in the semifinals on Friday at No. 1 seed Shippensburg (17-0, 10-0). No. 4 seed Bloomsburg (12-6, 7-3) hosts No. 5 IUP (8-10, 5-5) in the other first round game after IUP upset Millersville, 1-0, on Saturday.

Freshman forward Emily Howell scored her second goal of the season with 54 seconds on Saturday at Kutztown, breaking a 2-2 tie and putting the Warriors into the tournament. ESU improved to 2-6 in road games this season.

Sophomore forward Ally Roth has been the Warriors' top scorer all year, leading the PSAC with 20 goals and 45 points. She is tied for fourth in goals and ranks fifth in points in ESU's single-season record book entering the postseason. She ranks 6th in Division II in goals per game (1.11) and 7th in points (2.50).

Junior forwards Gabrielle Seibert (9 goals, 7 assists) and Jessica Lawville (8 goals, 6 assists) have combined with Roth for 37 of the Warriors' 52 goals, and 18 of their 34 assists this season.

Senior Brielle Kessel has four goals and two assists from her center midfield spot, including ESU's first goal on Saturday at Kutztown. On the outside, juniors Katie Barbato (3 goals, 4 assists), Becky Gagliardi (2 goals, 5 assists) and Alexis Good (1 goal, 2 assists) have also contributed offensively.

Howell has been ESU's top scorer off the bench with two goals and one assist. Senior midfielder Kaitlin Blum has added two goals.

Five Warriors have started all 18 games in Lawville, Roth and Seibert at forward and Kessel and freshman Desiraye Mack in the midfield. Gagliardi (13 starts), Barbato (10) and Good (10) have rotated in the midfield.

Defensively, senior Rebecca Smith (18 starts), junior Jessica Ferdinand (17) and sophomore Amanda Wnorowski (17) have been regulars along the back line.

Sophomore goalkeeper Alexis Charles has played in 13 games and made 12 starts, playing 802:53 this season. She has a 3.36 goals against average, 79 saves and a .725 save percentage. She had 26 saves last week, with a career-high 14 in a 3-0 loss at Shippensburg, and 12 at Kutztown.

West Chester has the PSAC's top scoring offense with 4.4 goals per game, scoring at least seven goals in five of its 17 games including 12 total goals against ESU in two games. The Golden Rams are coming off a 3-2 win at Slippery Rock, scoring all three goals in less than a minute.

WCU is fourth in the league in goals against average at 1.76 and had a four-game shutout streak (Bloomsburg, Kutztown, Mansfield, Mercyhurst) broken by Slippery Rock on Saturday.

ESU is making its 12th PSAC Tournament appearance overall, also qualifying in 1982 before Miller became head coach. The Warriors made tournament trips in six straight seasons (1986-91) and also in 1996, 2001, 2002 and 2010.

Their last PSAC Tournament win, 2-1 over undefeated Shippensburg in 2010, set up their second PSAC runner-up finish in school history. ESU has three seniors in Blum, Kessel and Smith who were on the roster that season.