BLOOMSBURG, PA – Gannon's Rafa Hyde kicked in a cross from Sverre Orton 39 seconds into overtime, lifting the 18th-ranked Golden Knights to a 1-0 victory over West Chester in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Semifinals at Steph Pettit Stadium
Gannon (14-2-3) advances to the 2024 PSAC Championship Game on Sunday afternoon to take on Bloomsburg (14-3-2), who defeated Slippery Rock in penalty kicks in the other semifinal.
Another conference semifinal upset over Gannon just wasn't in the cards on a cold Friday evening in Bloomsburg. But, West Chester stood toe-to-toe with one of the top teams in the country once again.
"I was proud of the way our guys competed tonight against a very good team," West Chester head coach
Michael Benn said afterwards. "I thought we stuck to the game plan well. Credit to Gannon, they generated some quality chances, but we knew there would be sections where they possessed the ball for awhile."
Gannon had the best opportunity in the 30th minute when West Chester goalkeeper,
Jaden Howard (Townsend, Del./Middletown) punched a cross from the left side out of the 6-yard box. However, the rebound went right to a Golden Knights' player, who hammered a shot right back the keeper that hit him in the chest and ricocheted back to the same player. His volley back in sailed just over the crossbar. Those back-to-back saves kept the game scoreless after 45 minutes. Gannon held a 12-5 advantage in shots at the break.
"We made it a 45-minute game at halftime, and our response in the second half was really, really good." Benn lauded.
West Chester produced its best chance of the game in the second half when a shot along the ground headed for the far right post went just wide.
Howard saved the day again early in the second half on a diving stop of a shot by Gannon's Alander Soares.
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) broke down the left side with three minutes left in regulation and shot just wide on a golden opportunity for the third-seeded Golden Rams.
"I thought (Owen) he had a great chance there at the end." Benn continued. "I thought we had a couple other chances there in the second half as well. We played with more tempo in the second half. Shots were 11-9 in the second half, and we didn't have a problem pushing forward."
It marked the second straight year in which West Chester and Gannon met up in the conference semifinals with the Golden Rams coming out on top a year ago. The Golden Knights slid ahead of the purple & gold in the all-time series with the win, 7-6-1.
