MANCHESTER, N.H. – Jillian Buchman (Drums, Pa./Hazleton) and Greenleigh McGehee (New Tripoli, Pa./Northwestern Lehigh) scored second half goals as third-ranked and third-seeded Kutztown Field Hockey erased a 1-0 deficit late in the third quarter and held on to defeat top-ranked and the number one seed, East Stroudsburg 2-1 Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Division II national championship game at Grappone Stadium in Manchester, N.H.
 
It is the first national title for the Golden Bears (19-3 overall), who broke the program record for wins in a season with 19. They also took down the defending national champions in the Warriors (18-3) and last year's national runners-up, Shippensburg, along the way.
 
It looked grim for the first 30 minutes of the game as East Stroudsburg got on the scoreboard first within the opening three minutes of the contest on a penalty corner shot ripped by Lia Parker. That would be the lone goal, however, the rest of the first half.
 
Intermission was kind to the Maroon and Gold as the regrouped and came out in the second half with a new mindset. With just 1:42 left in the third quarter and KU still scoreless, Buchman cleaned up a rebound off an initial shot by Jessica Traynor (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) and slotted home the game-tying goal past Amy Supey, her eighth goal of the season. Kutztown was playing up two players as the Warriors had two players sent off via yellow cards for five minutes each.
 
It didn't take long for the Golden Bears to take their first lead of the game as they continued to ride the momentum. With just 6:27 off the clock in the fourth quarter, McGehee finished off a shot from a penalty corner that was played in by Erin Gonzalez (East Earl, Pa./Garden Spot) and sent into the scrum by Mackenzie Kile (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood). It was McGehee's third goal of the season.
 
From there, the KU defense and goalie Mia Kepler (Wall Township, N.J./Wall) made sure that the lead wouldn't dwindle. Kepler finished with five saves.
 
Kutztown finishes a historic season, setting the program record for wins in a season with 19, setting a new record in shutouts with 14 and playing in just the program's second ever national championship game, first in 26 years, while earning the first trophy. KU is expected to be back in this situation in 2024 as it should return a majority of this season's roster, including all but two starts from Sunday's national championship game.

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