WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's soccer team (10-4-3, 7-3-2) returned to action on Friday afternoon for its regular season finale vs East Stroudsburg (8-3-6, 4-3-5) on Rockwell Field. Needing a victory or draw to secure a home game in the Quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Tournament, the Golden Rams fell to the Warriors by a 2-1 final.
With today's result, West Chester will enter the PSAC Tournament as the third seed in the Eastern Division, traveling to Bloomsburg for the Quarterfinal round of the Conference Tournament on Monday evening.
East Stroudsburg applied early pressure to the West Chester defense, getting a good shot off on the Golden Rams just minutes into the contest, but
Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) was equal to the task.
West Chester and ESU battled in the midfield as the half progressed, with the Warriors ending the opening half with a slim 3-2 lead in shots and a 2-0 advantage in corners.
West Chester opened the second half with early pressure on the Warrior defense, but Helgi Hermannsson was up to the task, keeping the Golden Rams off the scoreboard as well.
In the 57th minute, Cam Wheeler opened the scoring off an assist by AJ Rivera to give the visitors the early 1-0 advantage.
ESU doubled its in the 60th minute when Bradley Turocy elevated to score on a header off a cross by Ignasi Cucurella.
Looking to mount a late-game comeback, West Chester applied heavy pressure to the ESU defense in the final 10 minutes of play. West Chester nearly found its first goal of the game in the 81
st minute when Hermannsson made a diving stop on a shot by
Tommy Bodenschatz (Royersford, Pa./Spring Ford), and the following shot by
Jack Dieffenderfer (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg) went just wide to keep West Chester off the scoreboard for at least a few more minutes.
The Golden Rams did manage to cut the deficit in half with just over a minute and a half to play in regulation when
Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) scored off an assist from
Landon Wenger (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown) but this is as close as West Chester would get in the setback on Friday afternoon.
West Chester ended the contest with an 11-9 lead in shots and a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal, while ESU ended the afternoon with a slim 2-1 edge in corner kicks.
Good logged three saves in the setback, while ESU combined for five saves, with Hermannsson making three saves in his second-half performance. Brayden Evans got the start in goal for the Warriors, making a pair of saves before exiting for Hermannsson at the break.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Monday evening at Bloomsburg for the PSAC Quarterfinals. The start time of that contest has yet to be announced.
