WEST CHESTER, Pa.- In need of a victory to guarantee itself a spot in the PSAC Tournament and at least one home game in the Tournament, the West Chester men's soccer team (9-5-2, 6-3-2) returned to action on Rockwell Field on Wednesday afternoon vs longtime rival East Stroudsburg (7-8-2, 6-3-2). The contest was scoreless at the halftime break and tight throughout but a late second-half surge by the Warriors gave the visitors an important 3-0 win over the home standing Golden Rams.
With this afternoon's setback, West Chester will now need either a win or a Millersville non-win (loss or tie) at Bloomsburg on Saturday night to clinch a spot in the PSAC Tournament while the Golden Rams will need a win and an East Stroudsburg loss or tie vs Shippensburg on Saturday night in order to secure a home game in the PSAC Quarterfinals next Tuesday afternoon.
The first half was played predominantly in the midfield area with neither side generating any number of substantial scoring opportunities in the opening 45 minutes as the game went to the halftime break scoreless.
Through the opening half, East Stroudsburg held a 4-2 lead in shots despite a 2-0 Golden Ram advantage in corner kicks. Perhaps the best opportunity of the first half came late for East Stroudsburg, when the Warriors hit a ball from the middle of the box, which soared well over the crossbar, making its way up the embankment behind the net to conclude the first-half festivities.
East Stroudsburg opened the scoring in the second half when Matteo Geidies followed his shot after an initial save by
Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the 60
th minute.
Just under 10 minutes later, the Warriors tacked on a second goal via a PK after a foul in the box ahead of a shot by the Warriors, thus, extending the lead to 2-0.
Shane Hartey (Runnemede, N.J./Triton Hall) and Craig Potts (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard Dale) each generated good scoring opportunities late in the contest, off headers but each chance went just wide as the Warriors managed to hold on to their two-goal advantage.
With the game appearing in hand in the late stages, East Stroudsburg mounted a swift counterattack following a Golden Ram opportunity in the box on the opposite end and converted in the 88
th minute to extend the lead to 3-0 entering the final minutes of regulation.
West Chester applied pressure throughout the second half and ended the match tied with the Warriors in shots with 10 each while the Warriors finished with an 8-6 advantage in shots on goal while the Golden Rams also ended the contest with a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks.
Freshman keeper Helgi Hermansson had a great day in goal for the Warriors, making six big stops to slow the dangerous Golden Ram offense while Good made five saves of his own, keeping West Chester in the game for much of the contest.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon in a crucial game at Shepherd beginning at 3:30 p.m.
