Kutztown Blank East Stroudsburg 2-0 to Set Up PSAC Final Rematch With Shippensburg
Three minutes. That’s all it took to settle this one.
Top-ranked Kutztown scored twice in the space of three minutes late in the first half on Friday, and East Stroudsburg never found a way back. Jessica Traynor and Bree Zoccolo did the damage, and the Golden Bears are through to the PSAC Championship game with a 2-0 win at Shippensburg’s Robb Sports Complex.
Kutztown were in control from the start. They outshot the Warriors 12-1 in the first half and finished with 15 shots, 11 of them on goal. East Stroudsburg managed four shots all afternoon, two on target, and never looked like breaking through a defence that has now conceded just 11 goals all season, the fewest in the conference.
Traynor, a senior, and Zoccolo, a sophomore, scored with 6:22 and 3:59 left in the half. That was the game. Kutztown saw out the second half without a scare, and the 18-1 Golden Bears are into the PSAC final for the fourth time in programme history.
The rematch nobody wanted to miss
Waiting for them on Sunday are Shippensburg, the defending champions, who won the other semi-final against IUP on Friday. It’s a rematch of the game that gave Kutztown their only defeat of the season, a 1-0 loss at Shippensburg on 24 October. The Raiders won that one behind goalkeeper Grace Meinke, who has kept four straight shutouts coming into this weekend.
Kutztown have been the best side in the country all season. They lead the PSAC in goals (85), assists (57) and penalty corners (233), and this is their eighth straight PSAC tournament appearance. But Shippensburg are the champions, they’re at home, and they’ve already beaten Kutztown once. Sunday is the game this whole conference season has been building towards.
The final is at noon ET (10pm PKT) on Sunday at Robb Sports Complex in Shippensburg. Kutztown have been to the final four times now. Shippensburg have the trophy and the home crowd. For our money, it’s a coin flip, and the first goal wins it.
Elsewhere in Division II
East Stroudsburg’s season ends at 15-5. The Warriors had beaten West Chester 2-1 in Tuesday’s quarter-final to get here, and they finish with a record to be proud of. IUP’s run ends in the semi-final too, after the Crimson Hawks beat Bloomsburg 2-1 in the quarters behind a Kasey Rieger brace.
Sunday is finals day across Division II. The NE10 and South Atlantic Conference finals are both decided on Sunday, with the winners of Friday’s semi-finals meeting for the titles, and the ECC final is played today, Saturday, with Mercy hosting Roberts Wesleyan at noon in Dobbs Ferry. The Division II selection show follows on Sunday at 8pm ET on NCAA.com, and that’s when Kutztown and Shippensburg will find out where their NCAA runs begin.
