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Penn College women’s soccer opens postseason play Saturday, when the second-seeded Wildcats host seventh-seeded Cairn University in a United East Conference quarterfinal. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.
The Wildcats enter the tournament at 12-4-1 overall after finishing second in the United East standings with a 7-1-0 conference record and 21 points. Penn College earned one of four quarterfinal hosting spots following a strong league campaign, finishing just one point behind top-seeded Penn State Harrisburg.
Penn College’s success has been fueled by a balanced attack and a stingy defense. The Wildcats scored 23 goals and allowed just five in conference play, establishing themselves as one of the league’s top teams on both sides of the ball.
“Much like the last few seasons, our team has benefited from a strong balance of experienced upperclassmen and talented young players,” coach Ian Scheller said. “From the beginning, we believed this group had the potential to achieve something special.”
The Wildcats have been in four consecutive conference semifinal games and feel that their preparation during the regular season can help them reach their first conference final since the 2017 season.
“To prepare ourselves, we challenged our team with a highly competitive non-conference schedule and faced six of the seven other teams that qualified for the United East playoffs, during the regular season,” Scheller said. “Ramapo, for me, was a turning point which began a stretch where we outscored teams 28-6 and produced eight clean sheets in the next 11 games. During that time, we also won our first game over Penn State Berks in our program’s history, beat Saint Mary’s, and Farmingdale State (16-time NCAA qualifier). This was evidence that our team could play in big matches, and it has given us confidence going into the playoffs.”
Sophomore forward Megan Kurian (Limerick, Pa.) paced the offensive attack with 35 points on 15 goals and five assists. The 2024 United East Player and Rookie of the Year continued to produce after returning from a season-ending injury that limited her to six appearances in 2025. Kurian scored a hat trick in the Wildcats’ season-opening 5-0 victory over Delaware Valley and has been a consistent scoring threat throughout the fall. Kurian scored at least one goal against every conference opponent the Wildcats faced this year and led the United East with 10 goals in conference contests.