WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester men's soccer team (4-0-1, 1-0-0) opened PSAC East play with a victory on Wednesday evening, defeating Shepherd by a 2-1 final thanks to a pair of goals near the midway point of the first half.
Andrew Markopoulos (Drexel Hill, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) and Phil Udo-Inyang (Havertown, Pa./Haverford) provided the offense, while Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) made three saves to help guide the Golden Rams to the 2-1 league victory.
Today's triumph also marks the seventh year in a row in which West Chester has opened PSAC play with a win, with the current streak originating in the 2016 season.
In the 13th minute, West Chester got its first good look of the game when Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) took a shot from the top, but Shepherd keeper Carter Cave handled it to keep the contest scoreless.
Just minutes later, West Chester broke through for its first goal of the contest following a nearly similar script to its victory over UDC on Saturday afternoon as Josh Daniels (Fleetwood, Pa./Oley Valley) and Andrew Markopoulos (Drexel Hill, Pa./Msgr. Bonner & Prendie) teamed up to give West Chester the early lead. Daniels took a free kick from just inside midfield, and Markpoulos found his way onto the end of it to provide West with Chester the early lead.
The Golden Rams doubled their lead just a minute later when Jack Dieffenderfer (Lewisburg, Pa./Lewisburg Area) sent a cross to the other side of the box, which found the foot of Phil Udo-Inyang (). With the ball on his foot, Udo-Inyang controlled it and fired a perfect shot across the goal, past a diving Cave, giving the Golden Rams the early 2-0 lead.
West Chester threatened to add more late in the half and throughout the early part of the second half, but the Shepherd defense, led by Cave, was able to hold off the Golden Ram attack, keeping the deficit right where it was.
This defensive effort nearly proved crucial to Shepherd as the Rams worked to mount a late comeback in the final 10 minutes of the match, beginning with a free kick goal off the foot of Mac Long with just 9:15 to play in regulation.
In the final nine minutes of regulation, Shepherd applied heavy pressure to the Golden Ram defense, including a final push in the last 15 seconds, but West Chester held off the late rally to earn the 2-1 victory.
Shepherd ended the game with a 16-9 lead in shots, although West Chester led the way in shots on goal (5-4) and corner kicks (6-3).
In goal, Good made three big stops along with a number of strong defensive plays, while his counterpart, Carter Cave, also played well, making three crucial saves in an attempt to quiet the Golden Ram offense.
Gallery: (9-13-2023) MSOC vs Shepherd 9/13/23
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday night at PSAC East Preseason favorite Bloomsburg beginning at 7:30 p.m.
