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Recaps: W 5-0 vs. IUP (quarterfinal)  l  W 3-2 vs. California (semifinal)

EAST STROUDSBURG - Sophomore midfielder Shea Neal scored the game's only goal in the 78th minute, giving East Stroudsburg University the third PSAC women's soccer championship in program history with a 1-0 win over Kutztown on Saturday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
 
ESU (20-1) earned its 20th straight win - and 10th in the last 20 minutes of regulation or overtime - to add the 2014 PSAC championship to conference titles won in 1994 and 1997.

The Warriors, under eighth-year head coach Rob Berkowitz, the PSAC Coach of the Year, earn the PSAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament. They will appear in the NCAA postseason for the third time, following trips in 1997 and 2008. The complete NCAA field will be announced on Monday at 7 p.m. on ncaa.com.

ESU also avenged its only loss of the season, a 1-0 setback to Kutztown on a second-half goal in the season opener on Sept. 4. The Warriors' ensuing 20-game winning streak is the second-longest in PSAC history.
 
After scoring two goals in the final 10 minutes to rally for a 3-2 win over California in the semifinals on Friday, ESU and Kutztown were scoreless late in the contest despite several good chances for each side - including an ESU goal disallowed on an offsides call in the 11th minute.
 
Neal broke through with 12:44 remaining, gathering a deflection in the box and slotting it past Kutztown goalkeeper Deanna Messner (three saves) for the only goal of the contest.

Neal was named the PSAC Tournament MVP and was one of two Warriors on the All-PSAC first team earlier this week, along with senior back Lexie Peveraro. The goal was her seventh of the season - one of four Warriors to score at least seven goals on the conference's highest-scoring team.
 
Neal was ESU's only returning All-PSAC selection, earning a spot on the first team as a freshman in 2013, on a team that was picked eighth in the PSAC preseason poll but won the first regular season PSAC title in school history.

ESU advanced through the quarterfinals with a 5-0 win over IUP on Tuesday before edging Cal, 3-2, in the semifinals on Friday.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Jess Hetrick had four saves for ESU in her fourth start of the season, replacing All-PSAC second team freshman goalkeeper Jules Harris, who was injured late in the win over California.
 
Hetrick denied Kutztown its best scoring chance, deflecting a 40-yard shot by Kutztown back Morgan Staley just over the crossbar in the 39th minute. She also had three saves on shots by KU's Sam Costello, the PSAC Athlete of the Year who had two goals and an assist in a 4-2 win over West Chester in the semifinals.
 
Messner turned aside ESU senior forward Courtney Keller on a short-range shot in the 48th minute, and Kutztown had the next scoring chance when Dana Wong hit the crossbar in the 74th minute.
 
Neal scored the Warriors' goal less than four minutes later.
 
Kutztown (15-5), the tournament's No. 4 seed, is the PSAC runner-up for the fifth time in 11 years. The Golden Bears were seeking their first-ever PSAC tournament title.

Only West Chester (23 games in 2006) has had a longer winning streak than ESU's current 20-game run since the PSAC's first season of women's soccer in 1994.


GAME NOTES
* ESU entered the weekend ranked No. 1 in the official NCAA DII Atlantic Region rankings. West Chester was #2, Kutztown #4 and California #8.  The top 6 teams that comprise the Atlantic Regional will be announced on Monday night at 7 p.m.

* In Friday's semifinals, ESU beat California 3-2, and Kutztown beat West Chester, 4-2.
* Friday's two games were the PSAC's combined highest-scoring semifinals (11 goals) since the conference went to a two-semifinal format in 2001. There were 10 combined goals in semifinals in 2003 and 2011.

* ESU is the first team to score the game-winning goal in the 75th minute or later in both the semifinals and final since at least 2001.

* ESU is ranked No. 3 in the NSCAA DII poll for the 2nd straight week, and the top 10 for the 5th straight week.
* There are 228 schools that sponsor women's soccer at the DII level.

* ESU head coach Rob Berkowitz was named PSAC Coach of the Year on Wednesday. ESU had a PSAC-best six all-conference selections in So. M Shea Neal and Sr. B Lexie Peveraro (1st team), Sr. F Courtney Keller, So. B Laurel Neira and Fr. GK Jules Harris (2nd team) and Fr. B Amanda Vojta (3rd team).
 
* ESU improves to 5-1 in PSAC Tournament home games.
* ESU improves to 9-6-2 in all PSAC Tournament games (11th appearance - 3 championships - 1994, 1997, 2014)
 
* ESU was in the PSAC Tournament for the 5th time in 8 years under Berkowitz, and advanced to the semifinals for the 4th time (2007, 2008, 2012, 2014)

* ESU improves to 83-6-7 under Berkowitz when scoring the game's first goal (18-0 this season).
* ESU remains 56-0-4 under Berkowitz when leading at halftime (10-0 this season).

* All 3 coaches in ESU women's soccer history have won a PSAC championship:
Jerry Sheska (1992-94) - won 1994
Derek Arneaud (1995-2006) - won 1997
Rob Berkowitz (2007-   ) - won 2014

* Berkowitz is the 4th current ESU coach to win a PSAC title:
Denny Douds (football) - 9 combined PSAC or PSAC East division titles
Jeff Wilson (men's basketball) - 2012, 2014
John Kochmansky (baseball) - 2013

* ESU teams have won their last 4 appearances in PSAC championship games:
Men's Basketball - 2012, 2014
Baseball - 2013
Women's Soccer - 2014

* ESU is 5-3-2 in PSAC Tournament games under Berkowitz since 2007 (reached at least semifinals in 4 of 5 postseason trips)