THE DETAILS
PSAC Quarterfinal Match
#4 Edinboro (12-3-2, 9-3-2 PSAC) vs. #5 Kutztown (11-5-2, 9-3-2 PSAC)
Thursday, 1:00 p.m.
Sox Harrison Stadium
LIVE STATS - http://www.sidearmstats.com/edinboro/wsoc/scoreboard.aspx
 
STORYLINE
Fourth-seeded Edinboro faces No. 5 Kutztown in the PSAC Quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon, earning the right to host after winning a tie-breaker in the conference standings. Both teams finished with identical 9-3-2 records and 29 points within in the PSAC during the regular season, but Edinboro owned the head-to-head tie-breaker via its 3-2 overtime victory at home over the Golden Bears on Sept. 29. The conference quarterfinals were originally scheduled for Tuesday, however, the entire tournament was bumped back due to the effects of Hurricane Sandy throughout the state.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
Kutztown enters Thursday's quarterfinal ranked No. 24 in the NSCAA Coaches Top 25 poll while Edinboro is receiving votes. The Golden Bears were ranked third in the last NCAA Division II Atlantic Region standings and Edinboro was ranked sixth. Both teams had identical records as of the last poll. The Atlantic Region standings help to determine the NCAA Tournament seedings.
 
SECOND SEASON FAMILIARITY
Edinboro has advanced to the PSAC Tournament for the third straight season and earned a quarterfinal home match for the second consecutive year. This is the first time in school history that the team has qualified for conference playoffs in three consecutive seasons. Edinboro began that streak two years ago with a trip to the PSAC tourney at Kutztown. The Fighting Scots' seniors will look to avenge a loss to Kutztown the last time these two teams met in the playoffs. Edinboro lost to Kutztown, 5-1, on the road in the first round on Nov. 2, 2010.
 
SCOTS PLAYOFF HISTORY
Edinboro is 2-5 all-time in the PSAC Tournament. The Fighting Scots will look to repeat last year's quarterfinal result when they hosted Indiana (Pa.) and came away with a 2-0 victory to advance into the semis.
 
ALL ABOUT THE 'D'
Goals could be extremely hard to come by on Thursday as both defenses have excelled this year. Kutztown has allowed just 15 goals to opponents in 18 matches this season, good for a 0.77 goals against average, recording eight team shutouts. The Golden Bears have also outshot their opposition, 312-167. Edinboro, meanwhile, also has tallied eight team shutouts while allowing 0.80 goals per contest and outshooting its opposition, 302-205.
 
LAST MEETING
The reason Thursday's quarterfinal will be played at Sox Harrison Stadium stems from Edinboro's overtime victory vs. Kutztown on Sept. 29. A goal from Karisa Fernandez in the 99th minute sent the Scots to a 3-2 victory and ownership of the tie-breaker between schools despite both squads finishing with 29 conference points. Stephanie Tighe started the scoring in the eighth minute, but Kutztown tied things 10 minutes later on a goal from Diana Malanga. Kutztown took the lead on a tremendous goal at 44:54 from Tess Arebegast, but Edinboro tied things with a goal from Liz Debo in the 61st minute before Fernandez ended things at 98:36. In an extremely even match, Edinboro held the narrow edge in shots, 19-18, while Kutztown earned eight corner kicks to Edinboro's four. Meghan Kelly had nine saves for Edinboro while Jess Campbell made 10 stops for Kutztown.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. KUTZTOWN
Edinboro holds a slim, 7-5-1 advantage all-time over the Golden Bears. Kutztown had won the last two meetings between the schools before this season. The two teams met last year on Sept. 20, 2011 at Kutztown when Crystal Zerbe scored the game's first goal in the 38th minute. Janine Valerio then added another goal before halftime to give Kutztown all the offense it would need. Meghan Kelly had four saves for Edinboro that day.
 
ABOUT KUTZTOWN
The Golden Bears entered 2012 with a mix of experience and youth following last season's 16-6 campaign on the way to reaching the PSAC Championship Game. The 16 wins a year ago were the most in school history and the 10th straight year the school has posted double digit wins. Kutztown finished the year ranked 15th in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Top 25. The Golden Bears had been atop the PSAC standings just a week ago, but finds themselves forced to start the PSAC Tournament on the road after tying with Indiana (Pa.) and losing at California (Pa.) to close out its conference slate.This year, Sam Costello leads Kutztown with eight goals and 20 points as four different players have registered double digit point totals – Costello, Diana Malanga, Mariah Dimm and Taylor Higgins.