No. 23 West Chester Ready For Semifinal Showdown With Cal Poly Pomona

DII Festival Information
West Chester Game Notes  l  Cal Poly Pomona Game Notes
Live Video  l  Live Stats

PITTSBURGH, Pa.- For the first time in the programs Division II history, the West Chester University men's soccer team (15-2-5) is finalizing its preparations for a Final Four matchup against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos (17-6-0), which is set to be held inside Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Fans will be required to pay in order to gain entry into ALL Championship Events held throughout the weekend. The Men's Soccer Championship will offer an All-Session pass, which for an adult ticket will be $20 plus applicable fees while a student pass will be $15 plus applicable fees. Single session tickets are also available with general admission tickets being $15 plus applicable fees with student tickets being $10 plus applicable fees. Fans can click here to purchase tickets online or they may also be purchased at the stadium on game day.  

Additionally, the Doubletree by Hilton in Downtown Pittsburgh is offering fans a $119/night room rate for the NCAA Fall Festival. Fans can click here or call 1-800-222-TREE (8733) to reserve a room.
Fans are also reminded that Highmark Stadium does adhere to a clear bag policy as well as size limitations on bags that may be brought into the facility. Bags that are clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC and do not exceed 12' x 6' x 12' are the only bags that will be permitted into the stadium.

West Chester enters play coming off an impressive and unprecedented run through the Atlantic Region that saw the Golden Rams dethrone No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 3 Charleston before topping East Region Champion No. 9 Adelphi in the Elite Eight to secure a spot in the Final Four. West Chester outscored its opponents by a 5-1 margin over the course of these three games as the Golden Rams defeated Notre Dame 2-1 in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament before defeating Charleston 1-0 in the Atlantic Region Championship game, which setup a matchup with East Region Champion Adelphi for a spot in the Final Four. Against Adelphi, the first half was close throughout but West Chester finally gained the upper hand in the second half scoring a pair of goals to grab the 2-0 victory, thus, sending West Chester to the Final Four for the first time in the programs Division II History.

West Chester has had a balanced attack throughout the 2018 season looking to a variety of players to help give the offense a boost in front of goalkeeper Will Marshall who has been astounding thus far in 2018. Sophomore Doug Goitia has built off a strong freshman campaign to be the Golden Rams leading scorer in 2018 with eight goals and three assists  for a total of 19 points on the year. Goitia also has three game-winning goals to his credit with his most recent winner coming in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight victory over Adelphi. Stephen Thompson has been on fire in the NCAA Tournament as he has scored three goals (one goal in each game) and added an assist for a total of six goals and a team-best five assists on the year for a total of 17 points. Two of Thompsons NCAA Tournament goals have come as game-winners as he scored the winner against Notre Dame in the second round as well as the game-winner over Charleston in the Sweet Sixteen. Thompson also scored the second goal of the game in the Golden Rams 2-0 victory over the Panthers of Adelphi in the Elite Eight, which advanced West Chester to the Final Four. Overall, Thompson has accounted for three game-winners on the year to help lead the West Chester offense. Jason Pixley has also had another solid year in 2018, which led to him earning PSAC Second Team honors as he has scored seven goals along with one assist to help West Chester capture the PSAC Regular Season Title once again in 2018 and advance to its first Final Four in team history.  Pixley also leads the team in game-winning goals for the second year in a row as he has five game-winners to his credit with his most recent goal and game-winner coming in a dramatic come from behind victory over St. Thomas Aquinas near the end of the 2018 Regular Season.
 
West Chester has also been stout defensively in 2018 as the Golden Rams boast the PSAC Defensive Player of the Year as well as four all-conference defenders. Kyle Hoops captured Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-PSAC as well as First Team  DII CCAAll-Region honors to lead the Golden Rams and he is joined by fellow defenders Sami Phelps (Second Team DII CCA All-Region) and Andrew Slater who also earned spots on the First Team All-PSAC squad. The work of these three has been vital in holding opponents to just 9.1 shots per game and 0.59 goals per game on the season. When opposing offenses do manage to take shots against the West Chester defense they encounter another very difficult challenge in goalkeeper and Second Team All-PSAC /Second Team  DII CCA All-Region Selection Will Marshall. Marshall has had one of the best seasons that a West Chester goalkeeper has ever managed to record as he holds the single season record for wins (14) while he is also tied atop the list for goals against average (0.60) and shutouts (9).
 
West Chester will need to be firing on all cylinders in this matchup as Cal Poly-Pomona enters this contest riding a four-game winning streak in which it has not allowed a goal while defeating the No. 4 (Simon Fraser), No. 7 (Azusa Pacific), and No. 13 (West Texas A&M) ranked teams in Division II Soccer to reach this point. Jimmie Villalobos has been a threat for the Broncos all season long as he has scored nine goals while adding an assist on another for a total of 19 points on the year. Eduardo Faria and Cyro Oliveira have also been dangerous this season as Faria has 15 points of his own courtesy of four goals and seven assists while Oliveira is the teams assist leader with eight assists and three goals of his own for a total of 14 points on the year. Jakob Hansen has been the Broncos primary option between the pipes this season as well as he has played to a record of 16-6-0 with a 1.07 goals against average and .758 save percentage. As a team, the Broncos have been vulnerable this season as they have allowed opponents an average of 1.04 goals per game and 11.1 shots per contest while averaging just 1.61 goals per game and 15.8 shots per game.
 
Barry and Fort Hays State are lurking on the other side of the bracket as the winner of this semifinal will face off against the winner of Barry/Fort Hays State for the Division II Men's Soccer National Championship on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.