West Chester, Jefferson advance to second stage of NCAA Division II tournament

West Chester University advanced to their third straight Atlantic Region final and rivals Jefferson upset Saint Anselm to advance to the East Region final for the second straight year in women’s soccer action on Sunday.

Faith Matter connected with Lindsey Balmer for her 40th career assist in the 32nd minute in what would hold up as the eventual game-winning goal in the Golden Rams’ 2-0 win over Fairmont State at Rockwell Field in West Chester on Sunday afternoon.

Jefferson, meanwhile, knocked off the top seed in their region for the second year in a row to set up a rematch with Franklin Pierce, which knocked them out on penalties in their Sweet 16 meeting a year ago. Izzy Alexandre scored the game-winner for the Rams in the 80th minute and the defense held the host Saint Anselm in check on their home field the rest of the way.

The two local teams are the last college soccer programs still alive heading into this weekend. Jefferson will be at Sodexo Field in Rindge, N.H. on Sunday at noon for their game while West Chester travels to face top seed Shepherd for the fourth time this season. West Chester tied Shepherd twice during the regular season in PSAC conference play and lost 3-0 to them on their home field in the PSAC semifinal on Nov. 14.

“It’s tough to play a team four times, but I think our girls are ready for that challenge,” West Chester head coach Betty Ann Kempf Townsley said of Shepherd. “I know that it wasn’t a great showing last time but we tied them twice. I do believe that these are the two best teams in the region.”

Pace and precision in the attack and calmness under pressure in the back were the key ingredients to their pair of wins at home over the weekend on Friday and Sunday. They found the back of the net five times in a 5-2 win over West Virginia State to make it to Sunday’s match, where the 2-0 score line wasn’t indicative of the number of quality chances created, many off the shiftiness on the ball by Matter, who delivered her 10th assist of the season to set up Victoria Pungello’s third of the weekend and sixth of the season in the 84th minute. 

“She’s a gnat,” Kempf Townsley said of Matter, a senior from Middletown, Pa. “She can hold the ball and it doesn’t matter the size of players that she’s playing against, she finds a way.”

Balmer’s strike in the 32nd minute was her sixth of the season. Her pace on the outside gave the Fairmont State defense troubles throughout the afternoon as she found herself with space in the Fairmont State final third multiple times on the day.

“I think our chemistry on and off the field is great, which helps us succeed on the field,” said Balmer, a sophomore from Perkasie. “We trust each other, we know how to connect.”

Balmer, first-year center back Katie Dougherty and leading goal-scorer Kianna Barber infuse youth to a lineup with well-traveled seniors like Matter, outside back Jacqueline Graham, Pungello, Olivia Conroy and Jenna Fox. Fox, Graham and Matter were in the starting XI in the 2023 Division III national final against Western Washington.

“There’s great ingredients that we have on this team and the first one is leadership,” Kempf Townsley said. “The fact that this senior group has been to two regional championships and a national championship, they know what it takes and they’re the leaders that got us to this place.”

The Golden Rams play Shepherd on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game can be streamed live on NCAA.com.