NCAA Tournament, Second Round - Saturday, 1 p.m.
#3 ESU at #2 West Chester  |  Live Stats  |  Live Video 

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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University's first NCAA Division II tournament game in nine years is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday, as the Warriors travel to West Chester for their third matchup against the Golden Rams this season.

ESU (14-3-2) enters as the No. 3 seed in the Atlantic Region after winning the PSAC Championship last Sunday. West Chester (13-2-2), which went 11-0 in PSAC play during the regular season, is the No. 2 seed. The winner of Saturday's contest will play either No. 1 Charleston (16-1-2) or No. 4 West Virginia Wesleyan (12-5-3) in the regional final the following weekend.

The Warriors knocked off the Golden Rams 5-4 on penalty kicks in last Friday's PSAC semifinal following a 0-0 draw through the first 110 minutes. Junior midfielder Brandon Levano, junior midfielder Jo Panuccio, senior midfielder Christian Bukowski, sophomore back Mateo Laredo-Fernandez and junior forward Eddy Enowbi converted penalties, and junior goalkeeper Steven Robak came off the bench to make saves in the fifth and sixth rounds to seal ESU's advancement.

Panuccio would then score the only goal in the Warriors' 1-0 win over Gannon in the PSAC final on Sunday, as ESU claimed its 20th conference title and its first since 2007. Junior goalkeeper Will Boerema, who made 11 saves while picking up three shutouts in as many games, was chosen as the tournament's MVP.

Those three clean sheets are part of a stretch which has seen the Warriors allow only one goal in the past 799:39 of game action dating back to Oct. 10.

West Chester earned a 2-0 home victory in the first meeting between the teams this season on Sept. 12. Colin Hester scored his only two goals of the fall in the victory, while first team All-PSAC goalkeeper Matt Palmer made four saves to preserve the shutout.

The Warriors lead 44-34-15 in the overall series history between the two teams. This is the third-career NCAA tournament meeting; ESU advanced 4-2 on PK's following a 1-1 draw in 2002. The first NCAA matchup in 1967 saw the Golden Rams advance based on having earned more corner kicks in a game which remained 0-0 after regulation and seven scoreless overtime periods.

Both teams have relied on depth during their successful runs this season. Fourteen different players have scored for ESU on the year, while 16 different players have at least one goal for West Chester.

The defenses have been also been equally stringent, combining for 19 shutouts and 26 goals allowed overall. ESU's scoring margin of +30 (45 goals scored, 15 allowed) is the highest in the PSAC, while West Chester ranks second at +24 (35 goals scored, 11 allowed).

First team All-PSAC performers Enowbi (9 G, 2 A) and Bukowski (3 G, 5 A) are among the Warriors' offensive leaders, while senior back James McMahon (4 G, 3 A), sophomore forward Irvin Zuzic (4 G, 3 A) and freshman forward Anton Lysell (5 G, 1 A) also have double-digit point totals this fall.

Senior back Keelby Espinola was honored Tuesday as the PSAC's Defensive Athlete of the Year. He has started all 19 games while chipping in three goals and an assist offensively. Laredo-Fernandez, graduate student Nico Gericke and senior Shaquille Stephenson are also among the defensive standouts who have helped protect Boerema in goal. Boerema has a microscopic 0.78 goals-against average to go along with a .769 save percentage while playing all but 45 minutes in goal this season.

ESU fell 1-0 in overtime to Slippery Rock in its most-recent NCAA appearance in 2008. The Warriors' last victory on the national stage was a 2-1 triumph over NYIT in 2003. The program's best-ever NCAA finish came in 2000, when the Warriors advanced to the DII Final Four. That squad was inducted into the ESU Hall of Fame last October.  

West Chester is back in the NCAA tournament for a second-consecutive season. The Golden Rams fell 2-0 at Charleston in an opening round matchup last fall; that was their first NCAA appearance since their matchup with ESU in 2002.

Saturday is officially a second round matchup in the overall national bracket. The remaining Atlantic region teams next weekend will travel to the highest-remaining seed in the East region for third round and quarterfinal matchups. This year's Final Four contests will take place in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday, Nov. 30, while the national championship game is set for Saturday, Dec. 2.