ERIE, Pa.- After dethroning previously unbeaten and seventh-ranked Gannon in the PSAC Tournament Semifinals on Friday afternoon, the West Chester University men's soccer team () has shifted its collective attention to the PSAC Championship game against rival Millersville. West Chester and Millersville will match up for the third time this season on Sunday afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m. in a rematch of the 2018 edition of the PSAC Championship game, played at Rockwell Field.
For head coach
Michael Benn and the Golden Rams, this is the first PSAC Championship game appearance since 2018 and the third since the 2004 season, as the squad remains searching for its first PSAC crown in program history. In the Golden Rams' last Championship game appearance, the team came tantalizingly close, playing to a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Millersville before falling to the Marauders in penalty kicks. West Chester will look to exact revenge for this result and hoist its first PSAC Championship trophy in Erie tomorrow afternoon.
FAN INFORMATION
Similarly to the Quarterfinals on Monday, tickets are required for Sunday's Championship with prices set at $10 for adults and $5 for students with students from PSAC member institutions with valid, current ID being admitted free of charge. Fans must purchase tickets via this
link.
Fans unable to make the trip to watch the Golden Rams in person can follow the action via
live stats and
live video.
THE SERIES
As has been documented, West Chester and Millersville have no shortage of history against one another, and it would be safe to say there is little love lost between the two Eastern Division rivals. The Golden Rams and Marauders split the season series in 2023, with both sides earning a 3-0 victory on the road, moving the all-time series to 27-23-7 between the two sides, one of the closer all-time series against any Eastern Division foe for the Golden Rams. Millersville holds a slim 1-3-1 advantage in the last five meetings, along with a 2-0-2 edge in playoff games between the two teams since the 2016 season.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
West Chester and Millersville enter following wins over PSAC West foes as the Golden Rams stunned the seventh-ranked Golden Knights of Gannon, while Millersville raced past Seton Hill by a 6-0 final in the nightcap on Friday. West Chester has played to a mark of 1-0-1 this week, allowing just one goal in 200 minutes of soccer, while the Marauders played their first game of the week on Friday after capturing the Regular Season crown and earning a bye to the Semifinal round of the Championships.
FLOCK TALK
West Chester wrote another chapter in its impressive history against Gannon on Friday night, racing out to a two-goal lead midway through the first half and holding off the Golden Knights down the stretch to earn a 2-1 victory and move head coach
Michael Benn to 5-5-4 in PSAC Tournament games.
Frankie Taylor (Delran, N.J./Delran) and Jack Dieffenderfer (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) provided the offensive firepower for West Chester, scoring just under seven minutes apart, while
Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) was outstanding in goal, making five tremendous saves to slow one of the top offensive units in the Region.
Reached by phone after the game, Benn said, "I was really pleased with how Dan Good played in goal and how our back line performed as well. I thought
Cooper Jackson had the best game of his college career. It really was a group effort to try and manage all of Gannon's set pieces."
With his goal and assist on Friday night, Dieffenderfer moved past
Andrew Markopoulos (Drexel Hill, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) for first on the team in scoring, increasing his point total to 15 on the year while matching Markopoulos for first on the team in goals with six. Good, who is already the Golden Rams career win and shutout leader, has been excellent in the postseason, allowing just one goal in 200 minutes of playoff action, reducing his goals-against average to 0.88 on the year, while improving his record to 11-4-4 on the season.
MEETING MILLERSVILLE
Millersville enters after what can only be described as an impressive semifinal victory over Seton Hill, which saw the top-seed Marauders race out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of play before rolling to a PSAC Tournament record 6-0 victory over Seton Hill. Bob Hennessey scored four times for Millersville on Friday night, notching each of the game's first four goals, including a successful PK to open the scoring just under four minutes into the match. Millersville tied a program and PSAC Tournament record in its victory on Friday night, matching its six-goal effort from the PSAC Semifinals in 2016 against the Golden Rams. Individually, Hennessey also came within a goal of tying the program record for goals in a single game that was established during the 1976 season.
When the Marauders take the field on Sunday, they will play for a PSAC Championship for the eighth time overall and fourth time in the last five seasons, searching for their first crown since the 2021 season.
As impressive as his offensive effort was on Friday night, PSAC men's soccer fans know this is not an abnormality for Hennessey, as he has shown himself to be one of the top players in the league throughout the 2023 season. The 2023 PSAC East Athlete of the Year enters play on Sunday, leading the team in goals with 11 and five assists for a total of 27 points on the season. Richy Valverde, who also scored in the victory on Friday night, ranks second on the team in scoring with four goals and five assists for 13 points, just ahead of Michael Dempsey, who has 12 points with five goals and two assists on the year.
Defensively, Travis Holiday has been the primary option in between the pipes, playing to a record of 13-2-3 on the year with an identical 0.88 goals-against average; Holiday earned his 13
th victory of the season a night ago with a two-save effort in 80 minutes of work before exiting in favor of Jack Gabler, who finished off the shutout for the Marauders. Holiday has lost only once in league play this year, posting a record of 8-1-2 with a 0.64 goals-against average. The lone loss of the year for the sophomore keeper from Maryland came at home against West Chester in September when the Golden Rams rolled to a 3-0 victory over the Marauders.
JUST AHEAD
Following the Championship game on Sunday afternoon, West Chester and Millersville will both have the opportunity to sit back on Monday night and wait for their names to be called in the Division II Men's Soccer Tournament Selection show when it airs on NCAA.com at 7 p.m.
