Roster
Schedule
WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Head Coach
Michael Benn and the West Chester men's soccer team are finalizing their preparations for the beginning of a new season on Thursday afternoon on Rockwell Field vs. non-league foe Jefferson starting at 4 p.m. Thursday's clash vs. Jefferson will be the first of the 2022 season for Coach Benn and the Golden Rams, the first of a 17-game slate, which includes five non-league games as the Golden Rams look to return to the PSAC and NCAA Tournament in 2022.
KICKING OFF
West Chester returned to the field for a fall season for the first time since Fall 2019 last season and played to a record of 11-3-2, seeing its season eventually draw to a close in the PSAC Quarterfinals vs eventual champion Millersville on South Campus on November 9
th. With a number of key players returning for the 2022 campaign, including two-time defending PSAC East Defensive Player of the Year
Craig Potts (Stewartstown, Pa./Kennard-Dale) and two of its three leading scorers from a year ago in assist leader
Josh Daniels (Fleetwood, Pa./Oley Valley) and
Kresstoph Whittick (Whitehall, Pa./Whitehall) who finished the year second in goals, the Golden Rams enter 2022 with high expectations once again.
In the preseason coaches poll released a week ago, West Chester was tabbed second in the PSAC East, receiving two first-place votes, trailing only Millersville, who secured the top spot with five first-place votes.
ROSTER CHECK
Offensively, West Chester will need to replace one of the more prolific goal scorers in program history in
Doug Goitia, who concluded his illustrious career wearing the Purple and Gold last fall but can look to the likes of Daniels and Whittick to build off strong performances from a season ago. Daniels earned First Team All-Conference honors last fall following a stellar season, which saw him provide seven assists and one goal, the game-winner vs. East Stroudsburg on October 18
th. Whittick also turned in a great performance, scoring four goals on the year for a total of eight points to rank third on the team in scoring at the conclusion of the 2022 season. West Chester will also look to the likes of
Ryan Keenan (Bethlehem, Pa./Northampton), Tommy Bodenschatz (Royersford, Pa./Spring Ford), Kendall Walkes (West Chester, Pa./B. Reed Henderson), and Jack Dieffenderfer (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) to play important roles in the offense after all four players ended the 2021 campaign with two or more goals. The Golden Rams can also look forward to the return of
Shane Hartey (Runnemede, N.J./Triton Hall), who did not play a season ago but tallied six goals, including three game-winners, during a breakout 2019 season.
On the defensive end of the field, West Chester returns some crucial components led by the two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Potts, who returned to the Golden Rams as a grad student for the 2022 campaign, and First Team All-League keeper
Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East). A year ago, Good played to a record of 10-3-2 between the pipes for West Chester, turning in five shutouts while playing to a 0.86 goals against average and a .849 save percentage. West Chester also returns critical members of its defense from a year ago in
Andrew Markopolous (Drexel, Hill, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendergast), Thomas Hanvey (Allentown, Pa./Emmaus), and
Alex Aiken (Macungie, Pa./Emmaus) as a small sampling of the returning Golden Rams who filled crucial roles in the back for West Chester a season ago.
In addition to the strong returning core, Coach Benn and the Golden Rams also welcomed in eight new Golden Rams ahead of the 2022 campaign as
Jaeden Amato (Allentown, Pa./Emmaus), Jason Goldfeder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), Dillon Barbieri (Souderton, Pa./Souderton), Reese Peddrick (Newark, Del./Salesianum), AJ Peev (Chalfont, Pa./C.B. South), Zachary Favorin (York, Pa./Central York), and Jake Van Vorhees (Landenberg, Pa./Avon Grove) join the program this year. Fans can read more about the Golden Rams newest additions to the program
here.
RULES CHECK
For the upcoming 2022 season, fans are reminded that overtime will no longer be played during the regular season, meaning that any match with the score tied at the end of the 90 minutes of regulation time will end in a draw. In postseason play, overtime will remain but will not be golden goal, meaning any match that goes to OT in the postseason will run a full 110 minutes regardless of when or if a goal is scored during that time.
UP NEXT
West Chester opens its season on Thursday afternoon vs. Jefferson at 4 p.m. before heading to Holy Family on Saturday for a 12 p.m. start. The Golden Rams conference opener is set for Wednesday, September 7
th at Shippensburg, beginning at 4 p.m.
