BLOOMSBURG, Pa.- After ending its four-game homestand with a 2-0 loss vs No. 16 Gannon last Saturday afternoon, the West Chester University men's soccer team (7-4-2, 4-2-0) took to the road on Saturday afternoon for its second battle vs a nationally-ranked foe in as many games in No. 25 Bloomsburg (10-2-1, 5-1-1). West Chester opened PSAC East play with a victory over Bloomsburg on September 21
st but could not duplicate the feat to begin the second half of PSAC East play, falling to the nationally-ranked Huskies by a 1-0 final.
West Chester had the better of the play throughout much of the afternoon, ending the match with a 17-12 lead in shots and a 6-3 lead in shots on goal, but six saves by Brady Rimple and a 71st-minute goal by Alex Wilsterman were enough to lead the Huskies on the one-goal triumph.
West Chester outshot its hosts 8-4 in the first half, including a flurry of early chances.
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) 's shot was saved, and
Maksym Komperda's (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) rebound shot went wide to keep the match scoreless early.
Jason Goldfeder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) generated another excellent chance late in the first half, but Rimple once again saved his shot to keep the scoreless game going into the halftime break.
In the 64
th minute, Slack tried again to get West Chester on the board, but Rimple punched his chance high, leading to back-to-back corners.
Christian Vorchheimer
(Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) managed a shot attempt off the second corner, but it went wide to keep West Chester off the scoreboard.
Bloomsburg increased its offensive pressure from this point, sending a flurry of shots on
Jaden Howard (Townsend, Del./Middletown), who was able to save the first two chances for his only two saves of the afternoon, but an uncontrolled rebound led to the Wilsterman goal, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
West Chester pressed for the equalizer down the stretch, but Rimple made two more saves, and three more shots went wide as Bloomsburg held off West Chester for its first victory over the Golden Rams since October 2019.
Up Next:
West Chester will play its regular season home finale on Rockwell Field on Wednesday afternoon beginning at 2:30 p.m.
