KUTZTOWN, PA (August 20, 2010) – For the Kutztown University women's soccer team, Friday morning offered a welcomed relief from the grueling, intense training sessions and heat. Scowls were replaced by smiles. The humidity dissipated into a cool breeze. The crisp white uniforms sparkled underneath the bright and golden sunshine like a gleaming Bentley fresh from the car wash. (MEDIA DAY PHOTO GALLERY)

The Golden Bears are enjoying the attention. A television crew was present during photo day turning the usual rite of summer into an event that the women's soccer team will remember for the rest of their lives. Kutztown is currently ranked 22nd in the National Soccer Coaches' Association of America (NSCAA) preseason top 25 poll.

“It's a huge honor to be nationally ranked in the first preseason poll,” senior captain Chelsea Deeter said. “Being ranked gives us a little swag, but we know have to work hard to achieve what we did last year. Media day was awesome. We had a little of this last year. It's nice to have people paying attention to women's soccer at Kutztown. This is something we are not taking for granted.”

The players were excited, but grounded as they spent the morning coming up with creative poses, kicking the ball to each other, joking around, carrying benches and listening to senior captain Kelly Bushe (Neptune City, N.J./Neptune) describe in detail how she ate red velvet cupcakes with a fork at her summer job.

The Golden Bears won a school record 15 matches last season, posted a program record 13 shutouts, were ranked in nine of the 11 national polls, participated in the conference championship contest and qualified for the NCAA Division II Atlantic Region tournament. Now, the trick for the Golden Bears is to repeat their success from last year in which they finished the season ranked 25th in the final NSCAA poll.

“We know with our preseason ranking that there's a big target on our backs,” sophomore midfielder Sarah Black said. “Practices have been intense. However, today was a nice break for us. I think one difference with our team this year is we have more depth. We have so many good freshmen and I think as long as we use that to our advantage, we're going to be great.”

Kutztown was also picked to finish fourth in the rugged Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference this season. Fourth year head Erik Burstein has helped the Kutztown women's soccer program become one of the elite in the region. Now the task for the Golden Bears is to continue to raise the bar of excellence. Even the ultra-intense Burstein got into the jovial spirit by putting rabbit ears behind his players as he took photos with them.

“The media attention has been great, but we really haven't talked about it too much about it,” Burstein said. “They just know that they're in the top 25 and we kind of proceed and move on. They know that one kick of the ball, one goal you let up or a game you lose and that all that goes away. They're focused on trying to get better and go further.” 

Practices have been crisp. The biggest adjustment that Burstien has had to make has been trying to adapt to the new NCAA rule changes regarding practice time. The Golden Bears have three players returning who were named to the PSAC all-conference teams last year: Deeter, junior Shannon Pennock (Mansfield, N.J./Northern Burlington) were PSAC Eastern Division first team selections while sophomore Kelly Rozembersky (Roxbury, N.J./Roxbury) was a second team honoree.

Deeter, a women's soccer national player of the year candidate, and Rozembersky anchored a defense that allowed 17 goals in 2009. A two-time first team all-PSAC selection, Deeter was named to the first team Atlantic Region squads of the Daktronics and NSCAA postseason teams. She's one of the best defenders in the PSAC. The freshmen have held their own during practices and their talent, competitive spirit and energy have made practices exciting.

“It's amazing to get local media attention,” Burstein said. “It's a great thing and it's a tribute to the seniors, juniors and sophomores for everything they've done to lead up to this point. They've done a remarkable job of bringing the program to this point. It's a good feeling to be covered by people with interest.”

--KU--