FALL 2024 | TOWER 27 SPORTS ROUNDUP Field Hockey wins NCAA championship The KU field hockey team had a season to remember in fall 2023. It was the Golden Bears’ best season in program history, finishing 19-3 overall and 7-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference and winning the program and university's first NCAA team championship. KU set school records with 19 wins and 14 shutouts. The season was a story of determination and grit – in 2022, the Golden Bears were left out of the field for the NCAA Tournament. But the 2023 team was determined to get back to where they were in 2019, when that team made the Final Four. The season began strong, with the team winning its first six games. After a onegoal setback on the road to the defending national champion and top-ranked East Stroudsburg, the Maroon and Gold won the next three, before another one-goal defeat to second-ranked Shippensburg. From that point, Kutztown won its final six games of the regular season and then the opening PSAC quarterfinal game over Indiana University (Pa.). Unfortunately, another one-goal margin kept them from playing for a conference crown. After hearing KU’s name called during the NCAA selection show, the Golden Bears won three consecutive games of 2-1 scores over Pace, Shippensburg and East Stroudsburg universities to win the national championship. KU football had a rocky start to its 2023 season, after tough back-to-back road games left the Golden Bears at 0-2. But like the team has done so many times in the era of head coach Jim Clements, it overcame adversity and defied the odds. Kutztown went on a historic 12-game winning streak that included another unbeaten run through the PSAC East, a third PSAC championship in the last four years and the program’s first-ever NCAA Division II Super Region I title. In the PSAC championship game on Nov. 11, KU defeated fourth-ranked Slippery Rock, 31-7, setting the stage for a successful postseason run. The team then dispatched Virginia Union, 38-14, in the first round of the NCAA playoffs. Next, the Golden Bears took on Charleston (W.Va.) in a second-round game. Despite trailing by 14 points with less than five minutes remaining, KU got two quick touchdowns and a successful two-point conversion before Charleston missed a field goal as time expired, allowing the Golden Bears to move on with a 32-31 victory. Kutztown then traveled to Slippery Rock for the Super Region I championship game and the teams’ second meeting in four weeks. The Golden Bears proved to be the superior program once again, leading most of the way in a 28-16 win. The Golden Bears’ remarkable 2023 campaign closed in Golden, Colo., with a 35-7 setback to top-ranked and eventual national runner-up Colorado School of Mines in the national semifinals. But even as the historic season ended, the 2023 team will be remembered for setting new KU records for consecutive wins and wins in a season while collecting five victories over nationally ranked opponents. Football breaks records en route to national semifinals
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