Box Score (New/Sortable Format) BRIDGEPORT, CT (November 20, 2015) – The Edinboro University women's soccer team saw its historical season come to an on Friday after falling to East Stroudsburg, 2-0, in the NCAA Atlantic Region final. The contest was played on the campus of the University of Bridgeport at Knights Field. The Fighting Scots finished their 2015 campaign with a 15-8-1 record, while the Warriors move on to the Elite Eight with a 12-4-5 record.

The 2015 Fighting Scots reached heights that no Edinboro squad before them had gone. Their appearance in the Atlantic Region finals was the furthest Edinboro had ever advanced in the NCAA Tournament. The 15 wins tied a team record for most wins in a season. East Stroudsburg continued its string of upsets in an unlikely run in the playoffs, with the Warriors seeded sixth in the regional tournament and Edinboro fourth. 

"I thought we did really good," said head coach Gary Kagiavas. "We were all over them. We put the pressure on, tried to get a goal. We made just one mistake, and they capitalized, they finished it off and all of a sudden we were down. But we battled along, We regrouped at halftime. We tried to get the equalizer. But when they got the second goal, we pulled a defender. You lose one-nothing, you lose two-nothing, doesn't matter, right? I thought we did great today."

Edinboro and East Stroudsburg had become very familiar with one another as of late, and not just because they stayed in the same hotel in Bridgeport the night before. The two teams played on October 24, where the Fighting Scots pulled out a 2-1 victory over the Warriors. The rematcg came in the PSAC Finals, with the Warriors taking a 2-1 overtime win. This was both teams' maiden appearance in the Atlantic Region finals. In fact, Edinboro had never won an NCAA playoff game in three previous appearnces until this year.

The first 10 minutes saw Edinboro take the ball down into East Stroudsburg territory, with the Fighting Scots attempting three corner kicks. Senior midfielder Jansen Hartmann delivered a shot in the ninth minute, but it found the hands of goalie Jules Harris to stave off a threat. East Stroudsburg got on the board in the 16th minute, with Brielyn Hackett dribbling through the Edinboro defense and beating Baskey to the corner to give the Warriors a 1-0 advantage.

East Stroudsburg made several attempts in the first half to increase their lead, but Baskey and the defense stepped up to hold the deficit at one heading into halftime. The Warriors' Sammi Ortiz found a scoring opportunity in the 29th minute, but Baskey was able to block both of Ortiz's consecutive shots to hold off a serious threat.
The Warriors kept the heat on to begin the second half. Hackett took another shot at the net, which rolled just wide of the goal. The Fighting Scots countered with threats of their own. A shot by Ashley Mutkus in the 66th minute off a corner kick from junior Alex Brown was sought out by Harris. All in all, Edinboro totaled eight shots on goal to East Stroudsburg's six.

East Stroudsburg added to their lead in the 77th minute, when Ortiz delivered a shot from the top of the box that sailed by Baskey into the top right of the net for a 2-0 Warriors lead. East Stroudsburg nearly had a third goal in the 84th minute when Alex Pickett beat Baskey on a breakaway, only to hit metal off the left post.
The Fighting Scots attempted mightily to rally in the remaining minutes. Hartmann and Mutkus each fired shots in the 86th minute, with the latter almost being misplayed by Harris. She let it roll between her legs, but was able to stop it before it progressed past the goal line. Hartmann delivered Edinboro's final shot in the 88th minute, but Harris was there again to grab it.

East Stroudsburg outshot Edinboro, 14-11. Harris collected eight saves to improve to 13-5-2 while Baskey, in her first season as Edinboro's starting goalie, posted three saves and ended the year with a 13-6-0 record, breaking the school record for most wins in a season by a goalie.

"East Stroudsburg was better than us today," said Kagiavas. "We've played them three times, We knew what they were about, and they deserved to beat us. To be fair, we had some decent chances, Harris made some great saves. And to be fair, my goalie pulled off a save in the first half and one or two in the second half to keep us in the game at 1-0."

The end result saw the curtain fall on five Edinboro women's soccer careers: seniors Hartmann, midfielder Alexis Becker, and defenders Reilee DuPratt, Kayla Briggs, and Allison Oathout. Hartmann led the team with 33 points on 12 goals and nine assists. She finished eighth all time in career points (75), eighth in career goals (26), and second in career assists (23). Becker totaled five points on two goals and one assist on the year. DuPratt, Briggs, and Oathout each played a vital part on an Edinboro defense that allowed only 29 goals and recorded six shutouts in 2015.

"I lose one of the best leaders I've had in Hartmann," relayed Kagiavas. "Phenomenal player, great leader. I'm proud of what we've done. My seniors were great leaders and trying to replace her leadership and scoring is going to be difficult. Jansen is a coach on the field. She leads and all others follow her."

Several underclassmen performed exceptionally well for the Fighting Scots this season. Mutkus and freshman midfielder Halle Hammer finished tied for second in scoring with 19 points, with Hammer placing second with nine goals. Brown was fourth with 18 points on seven goals and four assists. Junior defender Shannon Regan and freshman defender Abby Gillespie each played big parts on Edinboro's defense, with Regan starting and appearing in 22 matches and Gillespie starting in 23 out of her 24 matches played.

"My underclassmen can only just continue to get better," said Kagiavas. "But there's a learning curve that comes with it."