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NCAA DII Atlantic Region final vs. West Chester
Friday, November 17 (11 a.m.) at Mercy College
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NCAA DII Elite 8 (if advance)
Sunday, November 19 (1 p.m.) at Mercy College
vs. Mercy or LIU Post


EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University competes for its second NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Atlantic Regional championship in three years with a match-up vs. West Chester on Friday at 11 a.m. at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.

ESU (15-3-4), the region's No. 2 seed, advanced on penalty kicks over WV Wesleyan (0-0 - 4-3 PK's) on Sunday to set up a rematch of last Saturday's PSAC championship game which the Warriors won, 1-0, for their record-setting fourth straight conference title.

West Chester (16-3-2), the region's No. 1 seed, also advanced on PK's in its second round game against Notre Dame (Ohio). Both teams rallied in PK's - WCU trailed 2-0 through two rounds before converting its last five, and ESU was down 3-1 before a frantic sequence of converting, saving, converting, WV Wesleyan missing high and the Warriors converting again - to move on.

ESU won the 2015 regional title with a 2-0 victory vs. Edinboro in a game played at Bridgeport, Connecticut.

West Chester knocked ESU out of last year's NCAA Tournament, 2-1 in the second round, after the Warriors eliminated WCU in the first round in 2015, 2-1 (OT).

The Atlantic Region champion will advance to the Elite 8 against the East Region champion between No. 2 seed Mercy (17-3), which won 3-1 vs. Southern New Hampshire, and No. 4 LIU Post (17-3-1), which upended top-seeded Adelphi.

The Elite 8 game will be played Sunday at 1 p.m. with a spot in the Final 4 in Kansas City (Thursday, Nov. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 2) at stake.

ESU will look to continue an impressive postseason run on Friday, advancing in 17 of its 20 postseason games since 2014. The Warriors are 14-2-4 in that span and have advanced three times on penalty kicks, including a 2-1-2 mark vs. West Chester with penalty kicks going their way both times.

ESU has advanced in 21 of 29 postseason games overall under 11th-year head coach Rob Berkowitz, who is in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time.

While ESU is a relative newcomer as an Atlantic Region power - making the NCAA Tournament just twice (1997, 2008) before its four-year run - West Chester is in the NCAA field for the 15th straight year since 2003 and has claimed six regional titles in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

This fall, the Warriors are 12-1-3 in their last 16 games after a 3-2-1 start. They are unbeaten in their last eight games (6-0-2), winning three straight games to win the PSAC championship with victories over Slippery Rock (2-1), Kutztown (1-0) and West Chester (1-0).

West Chester had won 11 straight before ESU's 1-0 win in the PSAC championship game. The Golden Rams have a 32-11 goal differential with 11 shutouts, and have yielded just four goals in their last 10 games since October 13.

ESU is led by five All-PSAC and four D2CCA All-Region selections, highlighted by senior goalkeeper Jules Harris.

The PSAC Tournament MVP with seven saves vs. West Chester in the championship game, Harris has ESU records with 13 shutouts and 11 solo shutouts this season, and has 41 career shutouts with 35 solo shutouts, tied for the PSAC record.

She was named first team All-Region for the third time in her career earlier Wednesday and repeated as the All-PSAC first team goalkeeper this fall, after being named PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Year in 2016.

Harris has a 0.53 goals against average with a 0.883 save percentage, both the best of her career. She has shutouts in five of ESU's last six games, including three straight.

In her career, Harris has a 60-15-8 record in 83 starts. ESU has advanced in all three penalty kick shootouts in which she has been in goal.

Senior midfielder Sammi Ortiz and sophomore back Hannah Saggese were also named first team All-PSAC, with junior forward Alex Pickett on the second team and freshman midfielder Haley Skove on the third team.

Ortiz, Saggese and Skove joined Harris on the D2CCA All-Region team.

Ortiz has started all 90 games in her career, the most in school history, and is a three-time All-Region and three-time All-PSAC selection in the midfield - earning first team honors the last two years. She has two assists this season, moving to a defensive midfielder role, and nine goals and seven assists in her career.

The back four in front of Harris has three first-year starters along with sophomore Syd Hicks, who saw most of her action in the midfield as a freshman before moving to center back late in the season due to injury. She has started 44 of ESU's 45 games in her career.

Freshman Erin Thuring (16 starts) and sophomore Makena D'Arpino (5 starts) have shared time at the other center back spot, with Thuring starting the last eight straight.

Both outside backs have started all 22 games in a pair of sophomores, Saggese on the right and Jessica Woodbyrne on the left. Saggese has seven assists, including five - a PSAC record vs. a DII opponent - in a 9-0 win at California. Woodbyrne, a transfer from Davis & Elkins' 2016 NCAA DII Tournament team, has four goals and five assists, and assisted on Skove's game-winner in the PSAC championship game.

In the midfield, Ortiz and Skove have been paired with sophomore Danielle Cary, along with a host of attacking players in midfield and forward positions.

Skove has six goals and three assists, with the only goal vs. West Chester in the 77th minute of the PSAC title game the highlight of her freshman season. She has started all 22 games and was recognized by the region's SID's with a first team All-Region spot.

Cary has four games and two assists in 22 games (18 starts) after starting all 23 games as a freshman.

ESU's attacking options are led by Pickett, named second team All-PSAC this season after consensus first team All-PSAC and All-Region honors as a sophomore, when she led the region in goals (14) and points (33) as a sophomore. She has five goals and four assists this fall.

Pickett enters the regional final with 23 career goals (t-7th in school history) and 11 assists in 54 starts. She has five goals and four assists in 16 career postseason games - including both goals in the 2-1 (OT) win vs. West Chester in the NCAA first round as a freshman in 2015.

Sophomore Monica Wood, a transfer from DI NJIT, leads the Warriors with 18 points in seven goals and four assists. She scored the game-winner in the PSAC quarterfinals vs. Slippery Rock and has started 21 of ESU's 22 games.

Sophomore Jules Sicker has seven goals and three assists in 16 games (five starts). She had six goals and three assists in the first 11 games before suffering an injury on October 4, and has returned to play in the last five games - including ESU's goal vs. Kutztown in the PSAC semifinal.

Senior Molly Vicari has posted five goals in 22 games, including eight starts, and has nine career goals and eight assists while playing in 82 career games. Sophomore forward Amy Strauser has a goal and an assist in 16 games (two starts) after notching four goals as a freshman.

Sophomore Nicole Abbott has started the last eight games and has scored four goals in 20 appearances. She has two goals in the last eight, including the only goal in a 1-0 win vs. No. 4 Kutztown on October 18.

Other contributors include freshman midfielder Haven Snyder (9 games - 1 assist), sophomore midfielder Juliane Fitzsimmons (8 games) and junior back Danielle Curran (8 games - 1 start).

In the East Region final, Mercy is in the NCAA Tournament for the third time in five years, previously qualifying in 2013 and 2014.

LIU Post is in for the 11th time overall and the ninth time since 2005. Both Mercy and LIU Post are playing for their first regional title.

ESU, West Chester and LIU Post are three of 10 schools that have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the last four years.