HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.- For the first time in the teams Division II History, the West Chester University men's soccer team (15-2-5) is advancing to the Division II Men's Soccer Final Four after defeating East Region Champion Adelphi (17-4-2) on Saturday afternoon. West Chester scored a pair of goals in the second half to knock off another No. 1 seed defeating Adelphi 2-0 to advance to the Final Four.
This is the Golden Rams first Final Four appearance as a Division II team and it is also believed to be West Chester's first final four appearance in men's soccer since 1961 when West Chester went 13-0-0 and was crowned National Champions.
Doug Goitia (Mount Pocono, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) opened the scoring for West Chester off an assist from
Daniel Grindrod (Feasterville, Pa./Neshaminy), which gave West Chester a 1-0 lead in the 47
th minute.
In the 74
th minute,
Stephen Thompson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) continued his red-hot NCAA Tournament scoring his third goal of the Tournament off a rebound following a Golden Ram corner. This goal gave West Chester a 2-0 lead, which proved to be too much for Adelphi to overcome.
West Chester ended the game with a 9-5 advantage in shots and a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal. West Chester also out cornered Adelphi by a 7-4 margin.
Will Marshall (North Versailles, Pa./East Allegheny) made one huge save in goal to keep the Panthers at bay en route to his 14
th victory of the year. Marshall also now holds record for most wins a single season by a West Chester goalie surpassing Andrew Shafer and
Will Marshall after picking up his 14
th victory of the year this afternoon.
Matt Apicella worked hard in goal for Adelphi making three saves but the two second half goals scored by West Chester were too much to overcome in the loss.
West Chester will now turn its attention to the Final Four, which will get underway on November 29
th with the Championship game should the Golden Rams advance being played on December 1
st.
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