GAME NOTES
How We Got Here: ESU went 15-2 on the season and 7-2 in the PSAC to earn the fourth seed in the PSAC Tournament following the tie breakers. The Warriors opened the year 7-0 before falling to Shippensburg and ripped off six straight wins following that before dropping a 1-0 decision at Kutztown. ESU outscored their opponents 59-6 and recorded 12 shutouts.
Headed into the week, the Warriors ranked third in the 2022 NCAA Atlantic Region rankings with the top three teams advancing to the 2022 NCAA Division II Championships.
The Series: Back on Oct. 26, the top-three matchup lived up to the hype as the Warriors outlasted the Golden Rams, 3-2, at Whitenight Field. With the game tied at 2-2 nearing overtime, graduate student Morgan Mesenbrink scored the fourth game-winning goal of her career with 17 seconds remaining to give ESU the victory. Tomorrow will be the second straight PSAC Tournament meeting between ESU and West Chester as the Golden Rams defeated the Warriors, 2-0, in the semifinals a season ago. While the Golden Rams have had ESU’s number in the all-time series, the Warriors are 7-6 against WCU since the 2015 season.
The Golden Rams lead the all-time series with a record of 10-40-6
Who to Watch: The Warriors are led by a trio of experienced players as seniors Madison Kline, Nicole Krozser and Hanna Lewis lead the team with nine goals apiece. Graduate student Morgan Mesenbrink and senior Lia Parker have each found the back of the next six times, while senior Olivia Breen has scored five goals.
Sophomore Jady van Gils paces ESU with seven assists while Kline, Krozser and Parker each have four.
Amy Supey has been the one of the best goal keepers in the country as the junior leads the PSAC and NCAA Division II with a 0.38 goals-against average and 0.878 save percentage. The Lehman, Pa. has made 33 saves across 856 minutes and has matched her career-high with four solo shutouts.
The Warriors earned four PSAC Weekly Honors during the regular season - Sept. 6 | Olivia Breen | Defensive Athlete of the Week, Sept. 27 | Madison Kline | Athlete of the Week, Oct. 18 | Amy Supey | Defensive Athlete of the Week, Nov. 1 | Lia Parker | Athlete of the Week. Additionally, Parker was honored as the NHFCA DII Field Hockey Athlete of the Week on Nov. 2
Scouting West Chester: The Golden Rams finished 14-3 overall and 6-3 in the PSAC to secure the 5th seed in the conference tournament. West Chester is ranked fourth in both the NFHCA Division II National Coaches Poll and NCAA Atlantic Region rankings.
The Golden Rams are paced by sophomore Valerie van Kuijck with 45 points on 15 goals and 15 assists. Claudia Jaszczak and Jasmin Miller also have double digit goals for West Chester with 14 and 11 respectively.
Megan Gula has started 16 of 17 games in net for the Golden Rams, recording 28 saves, a 1.04 goals against average, a 0.636 save percentage and six solo shutouts over 924 minutes.
The Coaches: Sandy Miller, who led ESU to the 2015 PSAC and NCAA Division II championships, is in her 38th season at the helm of the program. Miller has totaled 474 career victories, needing 13 more to move into third all-time in Division II. Miller and the Warriors seek their third PSAC title in program history as well as their seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
Amy Cohen is in her 12th campaign as head coach of WCU, guiding the Golden Rams to a trio of national championships in 2011, 2012 and most recently in 2019. Entering the 2022 season, Cohen had an overall record of 168-42 and won four PSAC Championships.
A Look Ahead: The winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal game advances to face top-seed Kutztown in the semifinals on Friday at time to be announced from Andre Reed Stadium.
