WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) scored the eventual game-winner just under 10 minutes into the match to help lead the West Chester University men's soccer team (6-2-2, 3-1-0) to a 2-0 victory over Shepherd (3-4-2, 1-3-0) on Saturday afternoon at Rockwell Field.
With this victory, West Chester improved to 4-0-1 at home this season and picked up its second consecutive shutout and third home shutout of the season, heading into two more important games on Rockwell next week.
West Chester did not waste any time in taking an early lead on Saturday afternoon as
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) scored off an assist from
Peter Tichy (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) and
Tommy Bodenschatz (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) to give West Chester a lead in the first 10 minutes for the second time in three games.
Later in the first half, Bodenschatz got a goal of his own, scoring his second in as many games, via a PK in the 31st minute to give West Chester a 2-0 lead heading into the halftime break.
West Chester ended the first half with a 9-6 lead in shots, including a 5-3 lead in shots on goal. It also registered two corners, which tied with Shepherd.
Jaden Howard (Townsend, Del./Middletown) had another strong first half, making three saves to slow the dangerous Shepherd offense.
The second half told a similar tale as West Chester once again outshot its guests 9-6 overall, although Shepherd ended the half with a slim 4-3 lead in shots on goal as the Rams searched for a way out of their two-goal deficit.
Howard continued to play well in the second half, making four more stops to pick up his second shutout of the week after making 10 saves in a shutout win over Millersville earlier in the week.
Up Next:
West Chester continues its homestand next week with two more games in front of the Rockwell Field faithful: East Stroudsburg visits on Wednesday at 3 p.m., and Gannon comes to town on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. on what will also be Senior Day for head coach
Michael Benn's Golden Rams.
