MANSFIELD, Pa. – The No. 7 Mansfield Mountaineers field hockey team (3-5, 0-1 PSAC) started Homecoming festivities on Saturday (Sept. 27) afternoon with No. 2 Kutztown (8-0, 1-0 PSAC), but the Golden Bears escaped with the opening Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) contest in a 3-2 victory over the Mountaineers.

An intense battle pushed out a score through Sophia Vadnais's penalty stroke goal to start out with the 1-0 advantage on Karl Van Norman Field. 

With one second remaining in the half, Kutztown used a last chance penalty corner to even the score at 1-1, heading into halftime. 

The final ten minutes stole the show with three goals rattling the cage. The Golden Bears opened the door with nine minutes remaining to open the 2-1. 

Off consecutive penalty corners, Melanie Esh delivered the game tying goal with five minutes remaining with the hope of momentum to upset Kutztown. 

KU finished off the thriller with a stunner rebound to earn their first PSAC win of the season, stunning the Mountaineers with the 3-2 finish.

UP NEXT:  
Mansfield head to No. 6 Bloomsburg on Wednesday (Oct. 1) as their first Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) road contest of the season, starting at 4 p.m.