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ESU women's soccer PSAC champs
1
Winner East Stroudsburg ESU-W (15-3-3)
0
West Chester WCU-W (16-3-1)
Winner
East Stroudsburg ESU-W
(15-3-3)
1
Final
0
West Chester WCU-W
(16-3-1)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
East Stroudsburg ESU-W 0 1 1
West Chester WCU-W 0 0 0

Game Recap: Women's Soccer |

PSAC CHAMPS x4!!!! ESU Women's Soccer Wins Conference Record 4th Straight Title, 1-0 at West Chester

Box Score  l  Photo Gallery

NCAA DII Tournament - Atlantic Region #2 seed, plays #3 WV Wesleyan/#6 Gannon winner Sunday (2 p.m.)

WEST CHESTER - Freshman midfielder Haley Skove scored the game's only goal in the 77th  minute and senior goalkeeper Jules Harris made seven saves to earn MVP honors as East Stroudsburg University won its PSAC-record fourth straight women's soccer trophy with a 1-0 win at West Chester on Saturday afternoon.

Skove scored from short range after a long free kick by sophomore back Jessica Woodbyrne to deliver ESU's fourth straight title, and the conference-leading sixth in program history.

Harris, a repeat selection to the All-PSAC first team on Friday, had her 40th career shutout and ESU single-season record 12th shutout of the year. She also had seven saves in the semifinals as ESU (15-3-3) blanked Kutztown, 1-0.

The Warriors, the No. 3 seed, triumphed over the tournament's top two seeds - No. 1 West Chester (16-3-1) and No. 2 Kutztown (16-3-1) - after winning 2-1 vs. Slippery Rock in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium.

All three of ESU's game-winning goals were scored in the final 15 minutes - sophomore forward Monica Wood in the 77th vs. Slippery Rock, sophomore forward Jules Sicker in the 81st minute off a throw-in by Skove vs. Kutztown, and Skove's championship-winning goal in the 77th minute on Saturday.

Harris finished the tournament with a scoreless minutes streak of 264:54, as Slippery Rock scored 5:04 into the quarterfinal but the Warriors kept their opponents off the board the rest of the way.

Harris made a pair of point-blank stops in a frantic first 20 minutes of the second half as West Chester looked poised for its breakthrough, but ESU held - and then controlled almost all of the action in the final 13:20 after Skove's goal.

Woodbyrne's free kick from within 10 yards of the midfield line found Skove on the run just outside the six-yard box, and the freshman midfielder knocked it home past West Chester goalkeeper McKenna Mullin.

ESU's six PSAC championships are now two more than West Chester, which won its four titles in a five-year span (2006-07, 2009-10).  The championship game meeting was the first between the two schools. ESU eliminated WCU for the third straight season, advancing on penalty kicks in the 2015 quarterfinals and 2016 semifinals, all on the Golden Rams home field.

The Warriors entered the year as one of two PSAC schools to win three straight PSAC championships, joining Lock Haven (1999-01), and now stand alone with the top streak in the sport's 24-year history in the conference.

ESU head coach Rob Berkowitz, in his 11th season, becomes the first PSAC women's soccer coach with four conference titles. Berkowitz has also led ESU's men's team to the PSAC championship game, joining former Warriors coach Jerry Sheska (1994) as the only coaches in the PSAC to take their school to both finals. ESU's 1994 women's team won the first championship in conference history, and the men's team won the third of four straight, and the third of 11 in a 12-year stretch.

Skove's goal was her sixth of the season for the midfielder, who was named third team All-PSAC and has started all 21 games as a freshman.

Woodbyrne notched her fifth assist to go with four goals in her first season at ESU after transferring from Davis & Elkins, an NCAA DII Tournament participant last year.

Harris improves to 60-15-7 in 82 career starts with 40 shutouts (34 solo). Her 34 solo shutouts are tied for second-most in PSAC history and one from the conference record (35) held by West Chester's Alex Srolis from 2013-16. Her 12 shutouts and 10 solo shutouts this year both break her ESU single-season marks set last year.

Harris, senior midfielder Sammi Ortiz and senior forward Molly Vicari are all four-year letterwinners on the Warriors' championship teams, with Harris and Ortiz four-year starters and Vicari making 15 starts, including starting 11 appearances in three of the four campaigns.

Ortiz made her 89th career start - every game of ESU's 65-16-8 run - and was named All-PSAC first team for the second straight year.

ESU improves to 10-0-2 in PSAC Tournament games in the last four years, with a 5-0 mark at Eiler-Martin Stadium and impressive 5-0-2 showing away from home - including 3-0 in true road games, all at West Chester.

The Warriors earn the PSAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fourth straight year and will make their sixth NCAA appearance in program history, including fifth in 11 years under Berkowitz (2008, 2014-17).

All four of ESU's game-winning goals in the championship run have been scored in the final 30 minutes of regulation or overtime. Shea Neal, three-time PSAC Tournament MVP, had the winners in 2014 (78th minute, 1-0 vs. Kutztown), 2015 (7:59 into OT, 2-1 vs. Edinboro) and 2016 (64th minute, 2-1 vs. Kutztown) before Skove struck for a record-setting fourth title.

GAME NOTES
* ESU improves to 14-2-3 in postseason games in the last 4 years (advanced in 16 of 19 games)
* ESU is 17-6-5 in postseason games under Berkowitz (advanced in 20 of 28 games)

* ESU has a 25-6 goal differential in PSAC Tournament games in the last 4 years.

* Lower seeds have advanced in 10 of 28 PSAC Tournament games since 2014
* ESU has advanced in all 7 games as lower seed
* All other PSAC schools have advanced in 3 of 21 games as lower seed

* ESU teams with 4 straight PSAC championships:
1992-95 - men's soccer (4)
1997-03 - men's soccer (7)
2014-17 - women's soccer (4)


Updated Sunday (after MSOC 1-0 win vs Gannon)

PSAC schools winning both championships
1994 - ESU
1997 - ESU
2005 - Slippery Rock
2017 - ESU

ESU head coach Rob Berkowitz wins both titles
* 2nd in PSAC history - ESU's Jerry Sheska in 1994 (1st year of PSAC women's soccer tournament)

* ESU's 6 PSAC championships - 1994, 1997, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
* ESU improves to 6-1 in PSAC championship games (runner-up in 1998)
* Warriors teams improve to 47-17 all-time in PSAC championship games (10-2 in last 6 years; 26-7 in last 25 years) - including ESU's men's title on Sunday


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