Matter and Graham Earn D2CCA All-Region Honors; Matter Repeats as First Team Selection
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa.- The Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) released its Women's Soccer All-Region teams on Tuesday afternoon. West Chester (16-3-3), who is preparing for its sixth Atlantic Regional Championship game appearance in the last seven years, had a pair of All-Region selections as Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) earned First Team honors, while Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North) copped Second Team honors.
Today's recognition marks the second career All-Region certificate for Matter while also advancing her to the D2CCA All-America ballot when voting opens later this week. For Graham, this is her first career D2CCA All-Region honor after earning First Team All-PSAC recognition earlier this year.
Matter, the PSAC East Player of the Year and a 2022 consensus First Team All-American, has turned in an outstanding 2023 season, scoring 11 goals, including five game-winners, while assisting 11 others for 33 points. Matter leads the team in game-winning goals with five, including the winner in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament against sixth-seeded Frostburg State. The sophomore forward is tied for ninth in points in a single season while residing in a tie for eighth in career points with 58, entering play against Gannon on Friday afternoon.
Graham, a two-time All-Conference selection, earns her first career All-Region certificate after another outstanding season on the backline for the Golden Rasm. The sophomore defender has helped limit opponents to an average of just 0.77 goals per game and just under five shots on goal per game entering play on Friday. West Chester is currently riding a two-game shutout streak in the NCAA Tournament, advancing back to the Regional Championship game after a pair of shutout victories over Frostburg State and Kutztown two weeks ago.
West Chester returns to action against Gannon on Friday, December 1, beginning at 1 p.m. in the Atlantic Region Championship game. With a win, West Chester will secure its eighth Atlantic Regional Championship (seventh under head coach Betty Ann Kempf Townsley) and advance to the National Quarterfinals on Rockwell Field on Sunday, December 3, beginning at 1 p.m. against the winner of the College of St. Rose/Adelphi Regional Final on Friday at 10 a.m.
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- Women's Soccer Lands Five on United Soccer All-Region SquadKANSAS CITY, Mo.- The United Soccer Coaches Association released its Division II women's soccer All-Region squad on Tuesday morning and five Golden Rams earned All-Region honors as Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) and Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown) copped First Team honors, while Jacqueline Graham (Toms River, N.J./Toms River North), Julia Raybold (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), and Alyson Cutter (Warrington, Pa./C.B. South) earned Second Team recognition.
- West Chester Drops Heartbreaker in Atlantic Region Final on PKsWEST CHESTER, PA – Gannon connected on its sixth penalty kick of the series to advance visiting Gannon University to the quarterfinals of the 2023 NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championshis at washed-out Rockwell Field Friday afternoon.
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