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BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - For the first time since the 2002 season, the Bloomsburg University women's soccer team is the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Champion.

Senior Erin Bielski (York, Pa./Century (Md.)) got a piece of a shot towards the goal from sophomore Lauren Hoelke (Blackwood, N.J./Highland Regional) and beat East Stroudsburg goakeeper Mauri Jackson with 2:32 left in the first overtime to lift the seventh-ranked Huskies to a 2-1 overtime victory over the Warriors in front of nearly 800 loud and boisterous fans at Steph Pettit Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the win, Bloomsburg secured an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II tournament which will get underway next weekend as it extended its unbeaten streak to 14 consecutive games (11-0-3) and improved to 15-2-3 overall on the year. East Stroudsburg dropped to 14-6-1 on the season and will have to await its postseason fate during the NCAA selection show, scheduled for Monday evening.

Bloomsburg's 14-match unbeaten streak (11-0-3) is the program's longest since going 16-0-4 during a 20-game stretch in the 1998 season which resulted in the second PSAC Championship in the school's history. This season's conference title marks the fourth in program history tying it with West Chester University for second-most in PSAC annals. The Warriors, who had their four-year string of PSAC titles come to an end on Sunday, still have the most championships in conference history with five.

The win was certainly nothing short of dramatic as the game was scoreless for the first 82 minutes and change before the Warriors dented the scoreboard to take a 1-0 lead. Warriors' senior Alex Pickett notched her third goal of the tournament, and eighth of the season, when she booted home a direct rebound off of the post on a shot that was initially taken by Amy Strauser. The tally came with 7:53 left in regulation and, with the way that scoring chances were limited all afternoon, certainly put a hush over the large crowd at Steph Pettit Stadium.

But, just over a minute later, the Huskies were awarded the match's second corner kick of the contest and it resulted in the game-tying goal from junior Jessica Milligan (Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge) who, amidst the traffic in front of the goal, was able to get her right foot on the ball and beat Jackson for her second goal of the season to tie the contest at 1-1 with 6:25 left in regulation. Hoelke, who took the corner kick, was awarded the assist.

Redshirt sophomore Jenna Hawkins (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood) needed to make one more save before regulation came to a close as she corralled a header from Hannah Saggese with 5:30 left which helped send the game to overtime.

Pickett had an opportunity to win it for East Stroudsburg early in the extra session but her header attempt went wide of the goal. From that point, Bloomsburg maintained a majority of the pressure and was awarded a corner kick near the midway mark of the extra session. The attempt did not come to fruition but the Huskies were given another opportunity with 2:42 left and that one resulted in the winner. Hoelke took the corner which, initially, did not result in anything but ended right back on her foot and she sent a ball back into the box that Bielski was able to just get enough of to put it past Jackson for the game-winner. It was Bielski's first goal of the season and was her first goal since October 21, 2017 when she scored in a 4-1 win over Pitt-Johnstown.

Hoelke, who assisted on both goals on Sunday, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player as she finished the postseason run with three helpers. She now has 11 assists on the season which is tied for fifth-most in school history but just one shy of tying the school record currently held by four different players.
 

Hawkins improved to 14-2-3 on the season as she turned aside four shots in the victory. Jackson fell to 13-4-0 on the year and was credited with a pair of stops. Bloomsburg finished with a 12-10 advantage in shot attempts for the match and had four corner kick opportunities to East Stroudsburg's none.

The NCAA Division II women's soccer selection show will be aired on Monday evening, November 5, on NCAA.com. The show is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. with the first round contest scheduled for Friday, November 9, at a site and time to be determined. The top two teams in the Atlantic Region will receive a bye and will not play again until Sunday, November 11.

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