EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — With the regular season in the books, the ESU field hockey team turns its attention to the PSAC Tournament. Their first opponent is a familiar foe, as the Warriors will open the postseason against the Golden Rams for their third matchup of the season.

SCOUTING EAST STROUDSBURG

• The Warriors are coming off a 14-4 regular season under first-year HC Katie Ord, getting wins over top-seeded Shippensburg, No. 4 Indiana (Pa.), and splitting the season series against West Chester. ESU started the season strong, winning 12 of their first 13 games, but hit a bit of a snag by going 2-3 down the stretch. 
• On offense, the Warriors have been led by their two co-captains, forward Rylie McGrath and midfielder Elaiana Rivera-Lagalla. The former is fourth in the conference in goals with 12 and sixth in points with 27. She was recently named the NFHCA Division II and PSAC Athlete of the Week in mid-October, the first awards of the senior’s career. The latter is coming off a breakout 2025 campaign where she was named a First Team All-American by the NFHCA and made the All-PSAC First Team. She’s followed that up with even better production this year, with her eight assists being the second-most in the PSAC during the regular season. A scoring threat on penalty corners, she’s totaled 22 points and averages the 11th-most shots and shots on goal per game. 
• Those two are complemented up front by forwards Emily Dobrowolski and Lisa Pasman, and midfielder Maddie Moline. Those three round out the Warriors’ top-five scorers, with the freshman Dobrowolski leading that trio. Her eight goals are second on the team, while her 73.9% SOG% is the best mark by a Warrior. All 12 of Pasman’s points came from her six goals, scoring four of them in the final six games. Moline has gone five games without a point, but has still factored in on offense with seven shots during that span. 
• Defensively, ESU has relied on its consistent group on the back line all year. Alex Bandura, Alex Eagles, and Megan Rafter have helped keep the circle clear, with Eagles and Rafter making two defensive saves each. Rafter has been ESU’s penalty corner taker as well, with her six assists ranking second on the team and tied for eighth in the conference.
• The Warriors rotate goalkeepers on a standard basis, starting Sydney Pope and bringing in Jet Vermeulen after halftime. Both have picked up seven wins this year, with Vermeulen having slightly better numbers while facing more action. The team’s closer has faced 58 shots, posting a 0.67 goals-against average and 0.864 SV%. Pope has started all but one game but played the majority of the first half in the one she did not open the game in net. Her numbers are still impressive, stopping 72.0% of her shots faced while allowing 0.78 goals against on average.

SCOUTING WEST CHESTER

• The Golden Rams had an uncharacteristic year for their standards, coming into the conference tournament as the sixth seed with a 10-7 overall record while going 3-6 in conference play. It’s just the second time since 2011 that West Chester finished below .500 in conference games; their worst record under HC Amy Cohen during her 15-year tenure. A three-game skid in mid-October that resulted in losses to Shippensburg, Kutztown, and Indiana (Pa.) hurt their standing, though they ended the year with wins over Millersville and Slippery Rock before falling to Frostburg State.
• West Chester’s leading scorer in the regular season wasn’t a forward; it was back Anna Finn. She registered 25 points between 11 goals and three assists, the fifth-most in the conference. Finn was the only Golden Ram to receive a PSAC Athlete of the Week award, doing so in the season’s first week after scoring five of West Chester’s first six goals of the year.
• Right behind Finn in scoring was forward Veerle Hersman, who finished with nine goals and five assists for 23 points. The junior is coming off a 2025 season where she made First Team All-PSAC with 36 points. Although her scoring has gone down this year, she’s already set a career-high in assists.
• The third Golden Ram in West Chester’s top group of players is forward Gianna Funari. Funari is a senior forward, making an All-PSAC team in each of her first three seasons. Breaking out last year with a First Team campaign and earning First Team All-America honors, Funari rarely ever comes off the field, averaging 56.8 MPG.

SERIES HISTORY

• The two teams split the first pair of meetings this season with the home squad winning each game. The final scores in both were 2-1, with the winning team jumping out to a 2-0 lead. 
• ESU’s win in October snapped a three-game losing streak against West Chester, which followed five straight Warrior wins. 
• The Warriors and Golden Rams have played three times recently in the last five years, with West Chester winning two of the games. They defeated ESU 2-0 in the NCAA Division II Tournament last season and won by the same score in the 2021 PSAC Tournament. ESU picked up a win at home over West Chester in the 2022 PSAC Tournament, coming out on top 2-1 in overtime.