WEST CHESTER, Pa.-The 18th-ranked West Chester University men's soccer team (5-1-1, 2-1-1) returned home on a perfect fall afternoon to take on Eastern Division foe Shippensburg (3-1-1, 1-1-0) on Rockwell Field. West Chester had the better of the play throughout the afternoon, ending the game with a 25-7 advantage in shots, but it was the visiting Raiders who escaped Rockwell with a 2-1 victory courtesy of a corner-kick goal by Ashton Davies in the 71
st minute of regulation, which allowed Shippensburg to hand its hosts their first loss of the season.
Shippensburg scored the game's first goal in the 14
th minute when Darius Bamfo used a cross from Mason Stokes to give the visiting Raiders the early lead.
Trailing for the first time all season, West Chester began applying heavy pressure, getting several good looks on goal, including a long shot by
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) and a nearly perfect header by
Ian Alicea (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland) but the Shippensburg defense made the plays it needed to keep the Golden Rams scoreless.
In the 42
nd minute,
Devven Frey (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson) picked up his first goal as a Golden Ram off a pass back into the middle from
Frankie Taylor (Delran, N.J./Delran), who had received the ball off a perfect pass from
Josh Daniels (Fleetwood, Pa./Oley Valley) moments earlier.
The game went to the half locked at 1-1, although West Chester ended the opening half with a 10-4 lead in shots and a 7-3 advantage in shots on goal, along with a 3-1 edge in corners through the first 45 minutes of action.
The Golden Rams picked up where they left off in the second half, applying consistently heavy pressure to the Shippensburg defense, including a beautiful cross by
Dillon Barbieri (Souderton, Pa./Souderton), which nearly found the foot of
Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) and a great shot from the top off the foot of
Jason Goldfeder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) moments later.
In the 71
st minute, Shippensburg broke the tie when Ashton Davies scored his second corner-kick goal in as many games to give the visiting Raiders a late 2-1 lead.
West Chester continued to threaten down the stretch, keeping the play concentrated in front of the Shippensburg goal in the final 10 minutes of the match, but the Raiders were able to consistently clear the ball out of danger to hold on for a 2-1 victory over the nationally-ranked Golden Rams.
Despite the setback, West Chester ended the game with an impressive 25-7 lead in shots and an 11-6 advantage in shots on goal to go along with an 8-4 edge in corners.
In goal, Cody Willoughby was nothing short of outstanding for the Raiders, making 10 big saves, including a handful in the closing minutes of regulation, to help his side pick up their first win over the Golden Rams since October of the 2011 season.
For West Chester,
Daniel Good (Exton, Pa./Downingtown East) worked hard throughout the afternoon, making four big saves to keep the Golden Rams around throughout the match.
Up Next:
West Chester will have little time to dwell on today's setback as a nationally-ranked showdown awaits the Purple and Gold on Saturday at No. 19 Mercyhurst, with that game set to kick at 11 a.m. in Erie, Pennsylvania.
