West Chester, on a quest to make history, reaches first women’s soccer Final Four in 16 years

Inside the locker rooms of the West Chester women’s soccer facility, you’ll find three vision boards with the word “Seattle” at the top. Underneath that, there are words, phrases, and photos cut out from magazines describing how the team plans to get there, such as “grit” and “family.”

The team decided to create the board right before the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference playoffs. The unbeaten Rams (22-0-1) knew they had a special group early on, but as the calendar flipped to November, it was time to home in on the ultimate goal — the Final Four.

“Once it got more realistic, we wanted the players to kind of buckle down,” said senior captain Deanna Lebotesis. “Because we do get tired and fatigued and people can lose sight of what we’re working toward. We kind of just wanted to show everyone how close we are.”

And they did just that. After winning the conference championship, West Chester went on to defeat Franklin Pierce, 2-1, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division II tournament on Nov. 20 to punch its ticket to Seattle for the first time since 2006.

Now, the Rams are just two wins shy of earning their first title under coach Betty Ann Kempf Townsley, who’s been leading the charge for 15 years. It all starts at 8 p.m. Thursday when the Rams face Ferris State (12-5-7).

“From the day we stepped onto our turf in August, we pretty much had this in the back of our minds,” Lebotesis said. “Just from the beginning of the season, I think we realized that we had a really special team, a lot of talent, a lot of strong assets, just from the very beginning.”

» READ MORE: Title IX: West Chester alums are all over the women’s college coaching world

Kempf Townsley wanted to build off the successes of a 12-5-3 season and a run to the quarterfinals, despite the adjustments that come with multiple seniors graduating and a new 12-player class of freshmen.

She saw something in the group during spring practices, a new and profound level of confidence. The team carried accountability in the locker room and set a high standard on the field. A word the players frequently used in the huddle was “compete.”

“It was quite unique, now you’ve got freshmen on the field that are playing with seniors,” Kempf Townsley said. “We haven’t had much of that in the past, and, I’ll tell you, it was a very good blend with the team.

“My belief is that collectively they could all play together and contribute something. Some teams look to maybe an all-star player or a player that can carry the team. But I think, collectively, this group believes in themselves and in each other.”

» READ MORE: Ashley Sessa, an Episcopal Academy grad, wins an NCAA title with UNC. Her focus now? The U.S. national team

Kempf Townsley didn’t talk about a conference or national championship with the team because she wanted the players to take it one game at a time, but by midseason, she looked at the schedule and decided to break the rest of the season down by threes.

Growing up, Kempf Townsley’s mother always used to tell her, “All good things come in threes.” She decided to approach each game with that mindset, hoping the Rams could keep their focus on just the upcoming three games as opposed to the big picture.

“We call them a mini-season,” Kempf Townsley said. “We took three games, and we focused on those three games one at a time, looking at what we need to do here to win it. Then once we got through three games, we were on to the next three.

“I’ve been in positions before where you go undefeated in a regular season or you’ve got a lot of wins, then you go into the playoffs and it kind of backfires on you. My thing was how am I going to keep these kids’ focus and get them to the playoffs.”

The Rams took a liking to that approach. It was a reminder to stay humble and helped fuel the fire during the games when they were down in the beginning and fought their way back.

“There’s definitely pressure from the outside looking in that we are an undefeated team,” said sophomore Kaitlynn Haughey, a Penn Charter graduate. “We do a really good job of handling it and making sure that we’re playing our game each day. That’s the reason we’re undefeated is because we work hard.”

As they prepare for the semifinal, the message to the group has been enjoy the journey, Kempf Townsley said, since the veteran coach, whose stops include La Salle and Seton Hall, knows not every team gets this opportunity.

“They’re going to remember this for the rest of their lives,” she said. “If we do everything right and we get to the championship, so be it. I’m just excited for them to be able to be in this situation. It’s a testament to what we’ve built here and what the players in the past have built here.”