Box Score BLOOMSBURG, Pa.- For the second consecutive season, the West Chester University men's soccer team (10-4-4) saw its PSAC Quarterfinal officially end as a draw, battling to a 0-0 tie against the second-seeded Bloomsburg University Huskies (10-3-5). In contrast to a year ago, West Chester advanced to the semifinal round of the PSAC Tournament, downing the Huskies 4-2 in PKs, as
Ryan Jammes (Aldie, Va./John Champe) sealed the game with his make, following a big save by
Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East).
West Chester was a perfect 4-for-4 on its attempts in the PK shootout on Monday night as
Andrew Markopoulos (Drexel Hill, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie), Josh Daniels (Fleetwood, Pa./Oley Valley), Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), and Jammes all buried their chances to help West Chester advance.
After a relatively quiet first half, which saw the two teams combine for just one shot on goal (a chance from the Huskies in the 26
th minute, which was handled by
Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East), the pressure ratcheted up a few notches in the second half.
Early in the second half, West Chester appeared as if it might take the lead, winning a penalty kick just over five minutes into the half, but Brady Rimple showed he was up to the task as well, making an impressive save to keep West Chester off the scoreboard. The Golden Rams nearly converted a header immediately following this save, but
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) saw his header go just wide to keep the game locked at 0-0.
In the 65th minute, Bloomsburg took just the third shot on goal by either side of the evening when Parker Nickelsen found his way into some space, but Good was equal to the task again, making his second save of the evening to stop the threat.
After working through continued pressure by Bloomsburg,
Christian Vorccheimer (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) got a good look on goal of his own, but Rimple made another vital save, keeping things scoreless.
In the final minutes of regulation, Good made back-to-back saves to stop a pair of excellent chances by the Huskies. West Chester mounted a late counterattack, looking to duplicate its magical ending from the first meeting between the two rivals with a pair of corners in the final 30 seconds of regulation, but Rimple and company made the necessary stops, sending the game to overtime.
After a scoreless first overtime, Bloomsburg to a pair of corners to open the second session, but Good and the Golden Rams had back-to-back strong defensive efforts to keep the contest locked at 0-0. The pressure from both sides continued over the final minutes of overtime, but neither side was able to find a winner, thus forcing penalty kicks to determine who would advance to the Semifinals.
West Chester got an early 1-0 lead in PKs when Braden Alicea missed his chance, while Markopoulos his opener. Stephen Hollis converted his chance, but Daniels followed suit, giving the Golden Rams a 2-1 lead. Brett Howard kept the Huskies hopes alive with a make of his own, but Slack followed suit, converting his own chance to give the Golden Rams the lead again. Good came up with another big stop, and Jammes buried his chance to lift West Chester to help West Chester advance back to the PSAC Semifinals for the first time since 2019.
Bloomsburg ended the game with a 20-11 lead in shots and a 4-3 advantage in shots on goal, but Good was up to the task, making four big saves to pick up his 26
th career shutout, moving into solo fifth-place all-time in PSAC history.
For Bloomsburg, Rimple was outstanding as well, making three saves of his own, including an acrobatic save late to keep West Chester from winning the contest in the final seconds of regulation.
West Chester will now shift its attention to the PSAC Semifinals against top-seed and host Gannon on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Erie.
