Men's Soccer Readies For PSAC Semifinals

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WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's soccer team appears primed for its 2018 PSAC Tournament run, which is set to begin on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. against East Stroudsburg. West Chester enters the Tournament as the top-seed once again in 2018 after PSAC Coach of the Year Michael Benn led the team to its second consecutive PSAC Regular Season Title.

As always admission to the games will be $ 10 for adults and $ 5 for students from non-PSAC institutions with students who possess valid, current ID from a PSAC Member Institution being eligible for free admission. Fans are also reminded that the lot adjacent to Rockwell field is reserved for those with Handicapped parking passes, game officials and other VIPs, thereby, requiring fans to park across the street in Q Lot.

West Chester has had another strong season in 2018 that once again resulted in West Chester winning the PSAC Regular Season Title. Offensively, West Chester has been led by the tandem of sophomore Doug Goitia (Mount Pocono, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) and senior Jason Pixley (Philadelphia, Pa./Central). Goitia and Pixley are currently tied for the team-lead with 15 points each as Goitia has scored six goals on the year while assisting on three while his counterpart Pixley has scored a team-hgih seven goals on the year while assisting on one. Pixley also leads the team in game-winning goals for the second year in a row as he has scored five game-winners in 2018 after scoring four in 2017. Stephen Thompson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) is third on the team in points in 2018 trailing only Pixley and Goitia with 10 points thanks to three goals on the year and his team-leading four helpers. On the defensive side of the field, West Chester has been in a word stingy this season as the Golden Rams allow opponents to take an average of just nine shots per game with less than half of these shots actually finding their way on target. When teams do  manage to get shots on goal scoring has been a challenge on West Chester's goalkeepers led by second-team All PSAC selection Will Marshall (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) have allowed an average of just 0.65 goals per game. These low numbers are thanks to a combined effort from the second-teamer Marshall and the three first-team selections from West Chester's backline including Defensive Player of the Year Kyle Hoops (Phoenixville, Pa./Great Valley). The solid defensive effort put forth by West Chester this year has given the Golden Rams a very real opportunity to win each and every game that they have played so far this year by lightening the load on what can be a very explosive Golden Ram offense.

West Chester's last game was back on Saturday, October 27^th when the Golden Rams traveled to Seton Hill in search of a win to secure its second-consecutive Regular Season Conference title. Seton Hill also needed a win or a draw in this matchup in order to earn a spot in the PSAC Tournament. The two sides battled through difficult conditions to end the match in a 1-1 draw after 110 minutes of soccer. Daniel Grindrod (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy) scored the lone goal for West Chester off an assist from Pixley but Seton Hill had an answer as the Griffins managed to keep the game even throughout. With this result West Chester turned to scoreboard watching waiting to see if Gannon could win its game later that night while Seton Hill celebrated clinching a playoff spot. Gannon did not win its game on Saturday night falling in Overtime to No. 2 seed Millersville, thus, giving West Chester the Regular Season Conference Title once again in 2018.

East Stroudsburg has had another solid season in 2018 playing to a record of 9-7-1 overall and 6-5-0 in PSAC play. Offensively, ESU has been led by a familiar face in Eddy Enowbi who has scored eight goals while adding five assists for a total of 21 points on the year. Trailing Enowbi is the tandem of Jordon Ellison and Irvin Zuzic who each have 16 points on the year courtesy of four goals and eight assists each at the end of the regular season. Jo Panuccio has also been a threat in 2018 as he has 14 points of his own thanks to five goals and another four assists on top of that. Traditionally, defense has been something of a hallmark for East Stroudsburg although that has not quite been the case this year as the Warriors allow opponents an average of 1.65 goals, however, it should be noted that the Warriors opponents manage slightly over nine shots per contest with roughly half of those shots finding their way on target. Will Borema has seen the majority of the time between the pipes playing to an 8-6-1 record with five shutouts and a 1.36 goals against average. Steven Robak continues to be an option to relieve Borema as the Warriors did just this in their PK victory over Shippensburg on Tuesday night.

On Tuesday night, East Stroudsburg took to the road to take on No. 4 seed Shippensburg in a PSAC Quarterfinal matchup battling for the right to take on West Chester on Friday afternoon. The two teams engaged in a defensive battle as while each team had its chance neither side was able to finish, thus, sending the game into overtime. In overtime it was more of the same as the two teams continued to battle with neither side seeming to take a clear advantage in the extra session. After a pair of scoreless 10 minute OT periods the game continued onto penalty kicks to decide a winner. East Stroudsburg jumped out to a quick 2-1 advantage that carried the Warriors to the 4-2 PK victory.

West Chester and East Stroudsburg have met once already in 2018 back on September 12^th when West Chester traveled to East Stroudsburg to pickup a 1-0 road victory over its hosts. West Chester used an early goal off the foot of senior and second-team All-PSAC selection Jason Pixley (Philadelphia, Pa./Central) to pick up the victory in this matchup. Fellow second-teamer Will Marshall (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) made his first start in goal for West Chester after stepping into the starting goalie job late in West Chester's draw against Wilmington on September 5^th. Marshall made five saves in this contest to keep East Stroudsburg off the scoreboard.
West Chester met East Stroudsburg under very similar circumstances one year ago as the Golden Rams and Warriors crossed paths in the PSAC Semifinals at West Chester a year ago as well with the Warriors prevailing on PKs after the two sides played to a scoreless draw. East Stroudsburg has already captured one match on PKs in this Tournament as the Warriors defeated the No. 4 seeded Shippensburg Raiders in PKs on Tuesday night.

Up Next:
The winner of this game will advance to the Championship game on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m against the winner of the 11 a.m. Millersville/Seton Hill match.