9/25/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College women's soccer returns home this weekend for a second crack at one of the best teams in the nation, as the Falcons get set to host #4 West Chester University on Saturday, September 26^th, at 1:00pm ET at Schautz Stadium in Dunmore.
 
This will be the second match-up between the two sides, with West Chester winning the first match-up back on September 5^th by a 6-0 margin. The Golden Rams had 46 shots, 23 on target, but led just 1-0 at halftime, before pouring things on in the second half.
 
Game Details
Who: #4 West Chester University Golden Rams (5-1-1) at Lackawanna College Falcons (1-7-0)
When: Saturday, September 26^th, 1:00pm ET
Where: Schautz Stadium; Dunmore, PA
 
Video | Live Stats | Tickets
 
Tickets: https://lackawannafalcons.com/tickets
Tickets can be purchased in advance at the link above or in-person at the doors. All admission tickets are digital and payment is cashless.
 
Video Coverage: PSAC Sports Digital Network
Fans who cannot attend can follow the action via the Lackawanna College Athletics Network or the PSAC Sports Digital Network links above.
 
Live stats: https://lackawannafalcons.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live stats coverage is available and will be updated as the match goes on.
 
The Falcons
Lackawanna (1-7-0) enters the game having recorded just two shots in its last three games, all losses, and the Falcons have not won in their last four contests. This past Wednesday, the Falcons faced off against East Stroudsburg on the road, dropping a 6-0 decision to the Warriors. ESU had a 35-to-1 shot advantage, including 17 on target, and scored four first-half goals to quickly overwhelm the Falcons. Read the full recap HERE.
 
Keeper Sophia Arvelo (Allentown, PA) had eleven saves in goal for the Falcons. Evangelina Theodore (York, PA) had the lone shot for the Falcons, coming in the second half.
 
Through eight games, the Falcons have given up 38 goals and scored one against their eight PSAC opponents. Lackawanna has 16 shots, 12 on target, a .750 percentage, but the defense is under constant pressure, giving up 243 shots, 114 on target. The opposition has 83 corner kicks to just five for the Falcons. Lackawanna has made 76 saves to just eleven from the opposition.
 
Isabella Caligiuri (Effort, PA) has three shots on target this season, while Grace King (Calvert County, MD), MacKenzie Seifried (Winfield, NJ), and Darexy Monroy (Pleasantville, NJ) each have a pair of shots this season. Kosi Nwozuzu (Queens, NY) has the only goal for the Falcons this year, coming in the win against Mansfield, while Aislyn Fitzgerald (Langhorne, PA) has the assist. Arvelo has 76 saves this year, posting a season-high 17 at then-#3 West Chester on the road on 9/5.
 
Head coach Juan Almonte, hired in July 2025, cobbled together a roster and competed for ten games last season, sometimes competing with just nine student-athletes, but the Falcons program made great strides, and coach Almonte hit the recruiting trail hard to find young, talented players.
 
Before coming to Lackawanna, coach Almonte was a volunteer assistant at East Stroudsburg, and, before that, an assistant with Marywood University in nearby Dunmore.
 
The Golden Rams
West Chester (5-1-1) will come into the contest licking its wounds after #22 Kutztown pulled a 1-0 upset on Wednesday evening at Kutztown. The Bears scored a 29^th minute goal off a cross to the near post that was pushed in, and West Chester chased the rest of the way, outshooting the Bears 6-2 in the second half and forcing five saves, while also accumulating seven corners, but Kutztown hung on for the massive win.
 
Entering the weekend, Shepherd and Kutztown are atop the table with 15 points, each, while WCU sits in third at 13 points. Millersville is in fourth at ten points, and Bloomsburg (9), East Stroudsburg (7), Shippensburg (1), and Mansfield (0) bring up the rear.
 
The Golden Rams have scored 18 goals this year and allowed just three in their seven contests, averaging nearly three goals per game. They have outshot their opponents, 161-to-41, and have 78 shots on target, a .484 average, while their opponents have 20 shots on frame for a .488 percentage. The Rams have 53 corner kicks to just eleven for the opposition, and they have forced 60 saves.
 
Sophomore midfielder Jordan Nguyen leads the team with five goals and an assist this season. Nguyen had a hattrick against Mansfield on September 19^th, scoring three of the six goals in the win for the Golden Rams, while putting five shots up, four on target, in just 28 minutes. Nguyen did not score against the Falcons earlier this season, posting three shots on frame in her 38 minutes. She played just 33 minutes against Kutztown in the loss on Wednesday.
 
Junior forward Kianna Barber is second on the team with two goals and two assists this year, and she leads the team in shots (30) and shots on target (13). Barber had two goals against Shippensburg on September 12^th, taking five shots and putting three on frame. She did not score in 33 minutes against Lackawanna, but posted 12 shots, six on target, on September 5^th. She did not score in the full 90 minutes against Kutztown earlier this week, taking a pair of shots and putting one on frame.
 
Sophomore forward Abigail Hanemann has two goals and one assist this season, posting nine shots, five on frame, in her seven appearances. Hanemann scored a goal against Lackawanna on September 5^th, and had another goal before that against ESU on September 2^nd, but hasn't scored since. She had an assist against Millersville back on September 16^th, and had one shot in 56 minutes against Kutztown on Wednesday.
 
Senior keeper Grace Keen is the main stalwart in between the posts for the Rams, starting in all seven games and playing all 64 combined minutes between herself and two other keepers. Keen has allowed all three goals, and has 15 saves, posting two clean sheets by herself and two more combined shutouts. Keen had one save against Lackawanna on 9/5, and she posted a season-best five saves in the opening contest against Bloomsburg. In the draw against Millersville, she had three saves. She had three saves on five shots against Kutztown earlier this week.
 
The head coach for the Golden Rams is longtime leader Betty Ann Kempf Townsley, now in her 41^st season overall and her 20^th season at West Chester. Kempf Townsley had previous stops at LaSalle and Seton Hall at the Division I level before arriving at West Chester in 2007, where she has won 285 games and earned five PSAC championships, while making the NCAA tournament in 17 of her 19 years in charge. She has never had a season below 10 wins for the Golden Rams, and her teams have made the PSAC tournament in every year she has coached. West Chester has won seven Atlantic Regional championships in the NCAA tournament under Kempf Townsley. She has coached 86 All-PSAC student-athletes in her time, and she has won PSAC Coach of the Year on four different occasions. She has over four decades of collegiate coaching experience, as well as Olympic development experience, coaching the U-18 squad in 1994 at the Gothia Cup, and then the Eastern PA Olympic Development U-19 squad in German in 1995.
 
WCU was the preseason #1 pick in the PSAC East by the coaches from the conference.
 
Next
Lackawanna College is back to work next Saturday, October 3^rd, when the Falcons travel to take on Shippensburg University for the second time this year. Kick is set for 2:00pm ET at Shippensburg. The Raiders won the first meeting, 6-0, back on August 29th.