West Chester Men Set To Host PSAC Quarterfinal On Blustery Tuesday Afternoon

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WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's soccer team is set for its run at the 2019 PSAC Championship. The Golden Rams (13-3-1, 9-2-1 PSAC) will host the East Stroudsburg University Warriors (11-4-3, 7-4-1 PSAC) at Rockwell Field on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 1:00 p.m. West Chester enters the Tournament as the second seed in the PSAC East, landing just one point behind the first-seeded Millersville.

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 (Farrell Stadium).
 
Dating back to 2002 West Chester holds a 3-9-3 record in its previous 14 appearances in the PSAC Tournament. West Chester played for the conference title a year ago, falling in penalty kicks. It was just the team's second appearance (2004) in the championship game since the tournament began in 1969. The Golden Rams have never won a PSAC Tournament championship in their team history.

West Chester and East Stroudsburg have met twice already this season. The first match took place on Sept. 17, when the visiting West Chester won 1-0 in the final minute of play on a goal from Austin Eveland (Kennett Square, Pa./Kennett). The Golden Rams then hosted the Warriors on Oct. 16 when they defeated the Warriors, 4-1. Hartey picked up two goals in the match, while Goitia and Matt Stevenson (Lansdale, Pa./Pennridge) each scored a goal of their own.
 
The Golden Rams and Warriors are becoming a classic PSAC playoff matchup, as they enter their third consecutive year meeting in the postseason. In 2017, West Chester lost to East Stroudsburg in the PSAC semifinals in a 0-0 penalty kick showdown. In 2018, the Golden Rams avenged their previous year's defeat, winning a 1-0 battle to earn their way to the PSAC Championship.

West Chester posted another strong regular season in 2019, falling one point shy of a regular-season three-peat. Offensively, West Chester is led by the joint efforts of juniors Doug Goitia (Mount Pocono, Pa./Pocono Mountain East) and Stephen Thompson (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland) and sophomore Shane Hartey (Runnemede, N.J./Triton Hall). Goitia leads the team with seven goals while adding one assist for a team-leading 15 points on the season. Thompson ranks just behind Goitia with 14 points, coming from four goals and his team-leading six assists. Hartey, meanwhile, has tallied six goals this season, five of which came within the last month of the regular season.
 
Defensively, West Chester is stingy, allowing an average of 7.58 shots per game. When teams do manage to get shots off, they have difficulty getting them past freshman goalkeeper Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East), who has started 16 of 17 games for the Golden Rams. Good has tallied 41 saves this season, allowing an average of 0.84 goals per game, while recording eight shutouts.

West Chester last played one week ago when the Golden Rams defeated the Bloomsburg Huskies, 3-1. The Golden Rams allowed the first goal late in the first half, as Stephen Hollis scored for the Huskies. Eric Greer (Chadds Ford, Pa./Unionville) scored the game-tying goal five minutes later. West Chester took over in the second half, as Josh Daniels (Fleetwood, Pa./Oley Valley) and Thompson each scored goals, solidifying the victory.

East Stroudsburg has put together another solid season as well, playing to a record of 11-4-3 overall and 7-4-1 in PSAC play. Offensively, ESU has been led by Marcus Torgersson, who has scored six goals and six assists for a team-leading 18 points. Leading the way in goals scored for the Warriors with seven is Bradley Turocy, who also has registered three assists for a total of 17 points. Oliver Lundberg owns the team lead in assists with nine.
 
East Stroudsburg is also strong defensively, allowing 17 goals in 18 contests, while allowing an average of 7.89 shots per game. Evan Miele has started 17 of the Warriors' 18 matches in net, leading the team to seven shutouts on the season.

On Saturday, East Stroudsburg defeated Shepherd, 4-0. Lundberg scored the first goal just four minutes into the match. Sergio Bortolon and Hubert Herrera each tallied a goal in the first half as well. Not even a minute into the second half, Lundberg sealed the deal, scoring the fourth and final goal for the Warriors.
 
Up Next:
The winner of this game will advance to the PSAC semifinals on Friday, Nov. 15 where they will face off against Gannon University. The match will be held at tournament host Millersville University, the time is to be determined.