By Jeffrey Smyth

KUTZTOWN, Pa. — Winning has been contagious around Kutztown lately as the Women’s soccer team made a statement against Lock Haven (2-8) Saturday afternoon as the Bears rolled to a 3-0 win at Keystone Field. The Golden Bears are now Kutztown 6-3.

The Golden Bears got off to a hot start as it only took Alaina Curry about eight minutes to get on the board. Lock Haven’s goalie had no response as Diana Malanga put another one through to take a 2-0 commanding lead early in the second half. Curry tacked on her second goal later on, assisted by Sam Busillo, to put the game out of reach for Lock Haven. The Maroon and Gold were relentless, resulting in a total of 15 shots on goal.

The Golden Bears’ defense continues to shine as well, as they delivered their fourth shutout of the season and second in the team’s last three games. Freshman goalie Deanna Messner kept the Bald Eagles off the board with three saves with the help from the Kutztown defense led by Hanna Fenstermacher and Busillo, as Lock Haven could only produce three shots on goal. “We played well especially in the second half,” said Fenstermacher, “We started connecting the ball more which gave us a lot of opportunities to score. Deanna came up with big saves, giving us momentum to go and score.”

The win for the bears also had a little history behind it as well. Head Coach Erik Burstein tied Jeff Schellenburger’s record of 97 wins, the most by any coach in the team’s history. Coach Burstein is now 97-45-11 with the Golden Bears, a record he gives full credit to his players. Burstein now in his 8th season with the bears looks to push for a playoff spot for the seventh year in a row. Coach Burstein’s .609 winning percentage ranks 42nd in Division II among active coaches.

The Golden Bears look to not only continue their success and maintain their impressive record, but to also put coach Burstein atop the record books on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at home against Seton Hill University at 3 p.m.