Box Score
West Chester, Pa. – Senior
Conor Malarney scored two first half goals to lead the West Chester men's soccer team to a 3-0 PSAC victory over Gannon University, Saturday afternoon in West Chester. The teams' first victory of the season also marks the initial win for Michael Benn as head coach at West Chester.
The Golden Rams (1-2-1, 1-1-0 PSAC) received a second half tally
from Christian Benner on a scramble in the box early in the second, to close out the scoring. Gannon (1-3-0, 1-1 PSAC), was coming off its first win of the season on Friday a 2-0 win at East Stroudsburg.
Malarney converted a feed from
Tommy Ryan less than three minutes into the contest. With the lead, the Golden Rams played a disciplined, tight marking, aggressive game, keeping the Gannon chances to a minimum.
"I was very pleased with how we played," Benn said "it was a complete team win."
Defense turned to offense when
Kevin McCann beat his man on the right wing, then led Malarney perfectly, who blasted the ball past Gannon keeper, for a two goal lead in the 35
th minute.
"I was happy with the effort we put forth against a very good team. " Benn said "especially coming back off a tough defeat 24 hours ago."
In his first year as coach Benn has a team that is constantly pressuring the ball and showing signs of understanding where they belong and what their roles are on the field.
Ryan Shultz picked up his first college victory and shutout stopping four Gannon efforts. Jason Barbarino made three saves in goal for the Golden Knights.
The Golden Rams return to action on Wednesday, when they travel to Lock Haven for a PSAC match at 2 PM.
