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EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University, the four-time defending PSAC women's soccer champions, begins its drive for another title with a road trip to No. 12 Kutztown in a conference quarterfinal round matchup on Tuesday.

The Warriors (12-5-1, 11-4-1 PSAC) enter as the No. 7 seed, while the Golden Bears (14-3-1, 12-3-1 PSAC) are seeded second. Opening kick is set for 2 p.m., with the winner to face the winner of No. 3 Millersville and No. 6 Seton Hill at the site of the highest remaining seed on Friday.

ESU has defeated Kutztown in three of the past four conference tournaments, including victories in the 2014 and 2016 PSAC title games. This will be the sixth postseason meeting overall between the two schools.

The Golden Bears edged the Warriors by a 2-1 final in the team's regular season contest at KU on Oct. 17. Trailing 2-0 at halftime, ESU pulled within a goal in the 82nd minute but was unable to come up with a late equalizer.

That snapped a four-game winning streak in the series for the Warriors. Each of the past 10 meetings between the teams have been decided by a single goal, with ESU earning the victory in seven of those contests.

Junior Monica Wood leads a balanced offensive attack for ESU, contributing 18 points (8 G, 2 A) as one of six Warriors to start all 18 games. Wood has already matched her points total from last year, when she tied for the team-lead with seven goals.

Senior Alex Pickett follows with 17 points (5 G, 7 A), and she enters ranked sixth overall in program history with 74 points in her collegiate career. Pickett, a two-time All-PSAC and All-Region performer, totaled a goal and an assist while helping the Warriors to a 3-2 win over Clarion in their regular season finale on Saturday.

Sophomore Haley Skove (5 G, 3 A), junior Jules Sicker (4 G, 4 A) and redshirt junior Nicole Abbott (4 G, 2 A), also have recorded double-digit points offensively for ESU this fall. All four of Sicker's goals have been game-winners. Skove was a third-team All-PSAC and first team D2CCA All-Region honoree last fall; among her six goals in 2017 was the game-winner in ESU's 1-0 win over West Chester in the PSAC title game.

Junior Danielle Cary rounds out ESU's usual starters in the midfielder; she has contributed three goals for the Warriors this fall.

Junior Hannah Saggese, a first team All-PSAC selection last year, and junior Syd Hicks have each started all 18 games on the backline. Sophomore Erin Thuring (18 GP/17 GS) and freshman Philippa Borjesson (16 GP/15 GS) are the other typical defensive starters. Borjesson has two goals and an assist in her debut season, including a double-overtime game-winner at Edinboro on Oct. 20 which clinched ESU's playoff spot.

Freshman Mauri Jackson has made an immediate impact in goal since making her first collegiate start on Sept. 12. She holds an 11-3 record with shutouts in half of her 14 starts, a 0.77 goals-against average and a .845 save percentage. Jackson's GAA is ranked third among PSAC goalkeepers.

Key reserves for ESU include junior Amy Strauser (18 GP, 3 G, 1 A), freshman Mallory Johnson (17 GP, 2 G, 4 A) and junior Jessica Woodbyrne (18 GP/8 GS, 1 G, 4 A).

Kutztown has been ranked as high as No. 8 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Coaches' poll this season. Junior Emily Zwiercan, the PSAC Athlete of the Year and a third team All-America selection last fall, has a team-high 25 points (11 G, 3 A), 12 more than anyone else on the team.

Junior Jenna Bracken has started 16 of 18 games in goal for the Golden Bears. She leads the PSAC in save percentage (.935) and is second in goals-against average (0.32) while accumulating a 12-3-1 record with 10 solo shutouts.

The Warriors are the only program in PSAC history to win four-consecutive titles, and their sixth PSAC championships overall are also the most in conference history.

ESU is 77-22-10 in the past four-plus seasons under 12th year head coach Rob Berkowitz, including a 14-3-4 in postseason contests during that span. The Warriors have had four different seeds during their current PSAC title run, as they were No. 1 in 2014, No. 7 in 2015, No. 4 in 2016 and No. 3 last fall.