West Chester at ESU
Game Details: November 8 I 7 P.M.
Location: Eiler-Martin Stadium (East Stroudsburg, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I Video
Series: 42-47-18
WCU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
ESU Links: NEWS I ROSTER I SCHEDULE I STATS
Last Time Out
In search of a win to secure a spot in the PSAC Tournament and come closer to locking up the second seed and the Quarterfinal hosting rights that accompany it, West Chester traveled to Millersville last Wednesday night to renew its rivalry with the Marauders. On what in some parts of the country is known as Mischief Night (the night before Halloween), West Chester got out to an early 1-0 lead but Millersville scored twice in just over 10 minutes in the second half to erase the Golden Ram lead and hand the visitors a 2-1 setback. Peter Tichy (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) scored the lone goal for the Golden Rams in the 23rd minute, and Teague Ferry scored both second-half goals for the Marauders. Jaden Howard (Townsend, Del./Middletown) made five saves in the setback in an attempt to slow the Marauder offense.
Flock Talk
Tichy, Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), and Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) are tied for the team lead in goal scoring with five each, while Tichy is first on the team in assists and points with five and 15. Komperda and Slack each have one assist this year for 11 points, while Tommy Bodenschatz (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) is fourth in scoring with three goals and four assists for 10 points on the year.
In goal, Howard is 6-5-1 with a 1.08 goals-against average and five shutouts on the year after suffering four losses in his last five matches, with the lone exception being a shutout victory over Shippensburg on October 23.
Need a Result
After the 2-1 loss at Millersville a week ago, West Chester needs a win or a draw to make the PSAC Tournament again in 2024. With a win and a Millersville loss, West Chester will unquestionably be the two seed and will host the Marauders in the PSAC Quarterfinals on Monday afternoon. Should West Chester and Millersville both win, a goal-differential tiebreak would be used to determine who the second seed and the third seed will be. With a draw, West Chester will qualify for the PSAC Tournament but will enter as the third seed and be on the road at Millersville for the quarterfinals on Monday afternoon. Should West Chester fall to ESU, the Golden Rams would miss the PSAC Tournament altogether, with the third spot in the field going to the Warriors.
Road Woes
Life on the road has not been kind to West Chester this season, as the Golden Rams are just 2-5-1 away from home and have not won a conference road game since October 2023. West Chester led for the first time on the road in a conference game since 2023 at Millersville last week, but a pair of second-half goals allowed the Marauders to slip past the Golden Rams. The last road victory for West Chester came on September 11 in a 4-2 triumph over Wilmington, which was the second of two straight road wins for the Golden Rams.
Series History
Despite a 3-2 victory over ESU on Rockwell Field earlier this season, which halted a five-game unbeaten streak for the Warriors, ESU still holds a 47-42-18 lead against West Chester. West Chester has not defeated East Stroudsburg in Eiler-Martin Stadium since a 1-0 victory in September 2019, which came as part of a six-game winning streak for the Golden Rams over the Warriors.
When the two teams met earlier this season, West Chester stretched its winning streak to three in a row and its unbeaten streak to four as the Golden Rams toppled the Warriors by a 3-2 final. West Chester raced out to an early lead in this victory as Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) opened the scoring just 10 minutes in to give the hosts a 1-0 halftime lead. West Chester doubled its lead early in the second half when Cooper Jackson (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) scored in the 54th minute before Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) scored his team-best fifth goal of the year in the 65th minute to give West Chester a commanding 3-0 lead. This advantage proved vital for West Chester as ESU answered with two goals in the final 25 minutes of the match, but Jaden Howard (Towsend, Del./Middletown) stiffened when they needed to, holding on for the 3-2 victory. Howard played well in goal once again, improving to 5-1-1 on the year with three saves in that victory.
Scouting ESU
East Stroudsburg (8-4-4, 4-3-2) enters play on Friday night in a similar position to West Chester, understanding that with a victory, its season will continue for at least another weekend, while a loss will bring the 2024 campaign to its conclusion on the last night of the regular season. ESU enters play on a two-game winning streak after defeating Shippensburg on the road on Saturday to keep its PSAC Tournament hopes alive and posting a 3-2 win over Holy Family at home on Monday night in its non-league finale. The victory over Holy Family on Monday night improved the Warriors to 5-2-1 in games played in Eiler-Martin Stadium this year and stretched the home unbeaten streak to three in a row.
Against Holy Family, ESU never trailed, taking an early lead when Nathan Bradway scored just over 21 minutes into the match and added two more goals in the first 25 minutes of the second half to take a commanding 3-0 lead. This advantage proved vital as Holy Family mounted a late comeback, scoring a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes, but it was not enough to overcome the early three-goal deficit. East Stroudsburg ended the match with an 11-7 lead in shots, a 6-2 lead in shots on goal, and an 8-4 lead in corners.
Cayetano Diaz and Ignasi Cucurella are tied for the team lead in scoring with identical five-goal/two-assist lines on the year, while Bradway is third with three goals and four assists for 10 points. In goal, Helgi Hermannsson was the go-to option for much of the season, playing to a record of 5-4-2 with a 1.00 goals-against average. However, Kevin Kretschman has been in goal in recent weeks as he is 3-0-2 with a 0.41 goals-against average since earning the start for the win over Bloomfield on October 23.
