WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Faith Matter (Middletown, Pa./Middletown Area) scored the eventual game winner with just under 20 minutes to play to lift the West Chester University women's soccer team (8-3-1, 8-3-0) to a 1-0 Senior Day victory over Mansfield (3-8-2, 2-7-2) on Rockwell Field on Saturday afternoon.
Prior to the beginning of the game, West Chester honored its five player senior class of
Jacqueline Hug (West Chester, Pa./Unionville), Julia Raybold (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown), Jordyn Dupes (Middletown, Pa/Middletown), Kiley Kergides (Rydal, Pa./Germantown Academy), and Kelli Collins (Lawrenceville, N.J./Pennington) for their contributions to the Golden Rams throughout their career.
While the Golden Rams emerged victorious by the slimmest of margins on Saturday, West Chester controlled the possession throughout the afternoon, ending the game with a 25-2 lead in shots and a 12-2 advantage in shots on goal to go along with a 9-2 lead in corners.
West Chester nearly opened the scoring in the 13
th minute with a
Jacqueline Hug (West Chester, Pa./Unionville) shot off a corner, but Mansfield cleared it off the line just in time to keep things scoreless.
The Golden Rams continued to pressure, nearly resulting in a goal by
Victoria Pungello (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) from
Kaitlynn Haughey (Philadelphia, Pa./Penn Charter) but the chance went just wide to keep the Golden Rams off the scoreboard for a few more minutes.
West Chester continued to apply pressure throughout the first half, heading to the break with a 14-1 lead in shots and a 7-1 advantage in shots on goal along with a 7-1 lead in corners.
In the 52
nd minute, West Chester nearly converted off a corner once again with a shot by Pungello ringing the crossbar, before the rebound chance from
Carley Slavin (Abington, Pa./Abington) went just high to keep things scoreless.
Mansfield mounted a swift counterattack, which nearly resulted in a goal but
Grace Keen (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) made a tremendous leaping save to keep the Mounties off the scoreboard.
After knocking on the door throughout the afternoon, Matter broke through in the 71
st minute off a long pass from
Lauren Corless (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) to give the Golden Rams the 1-0 lead they would never relinquish.
Mansfield applied heavy pressure down the stretch, searching for a late equalizer but the Golden Ram defense did well to clear the ball away and hold on for the 1-0 victory.
Keen made a pair of saves to pick up her second shutout in as many games, while her counterpart, Samantha Merklin made 10 stops to keep the Golden Ram offense at bay throughout the afternoon.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action next Wednesday at Kutztown beginning at 7 p.m.
