WILMINGTON, Del.- Frankie Taylor (Delran, N.J./Delran) scored the eventual game-winner midway through the second half to help lead the West Chester University men's soccer team (2-0-1) to a 4-2 victory over Wilmington (0-2-1) on the road on Wednesday afternoon.
Christian Vorchheimer (Ambler, Pa./Wissahickon) got West Chester on the board early, scoring the first goal of the game in the 31
st minute off an assist from
Jason Goldfeder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff).
This goal, thanks in part to a pair of early saves by
Alexi Amanatidis (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Shipley School), was enough to give West Chester a one-goal advantage heading into the break.
Searching for its first victory over Wilmington since 2010, West Chester doubled its lead in the 57
th minute when
Tommy Bodenschatz (Royersford, Pa./Spring-Ford) took a pass from
Mason Clatterbuck (Conshohocken, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh) and buried it to give the Golden Rams a 2-0 lead.
This two-goal advantage held up for much of the second half and proved vital down the stretch as Wilmington cut the lead in half in the 69
th minute when Tsubasa Abe used an assist from Jhamaleek Porter to make the score 2-1 entering the last 20 minutes of play.
Amanatidis was tested again just moments after the goal, making a nice save on a header chance from Niklas Kleinert to keep the one-goal lead intact.
On the counterattack,
Frankie Taylor (Delran, N.J./Delran) nearly stretched the lead back to two, but his shot went wide, and West Chester was whistled for offsides a few minutes
later, returning the ball to Wilmington as the match entered its final 15 minutes.
In the 79
th minute, Taylor got another chance at a goal and did not miss, taking an assist from Goldfeder (his second of the afternoon) to extend the lead to 3-1 with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Devven Frey (Wyomissing, Pa./Wilson) added a goal of his own in the 82nd minute, which gave West Chester a commanding 4-1 advantage.
After a foul in the box by Amanatidis following a corner, Abe scored his second goal of the afternoon from the spot, which cut the Golden Ram lead to 4-2.
With the deficit down to two, Wilmington began applying heavy pressure to the West Chester defense for the final seven minutes. The Golden Rams were equal to the task, managing the chances down the stretch to close out the 4-2 non-league victory.
Wilmington ended the match with a 14-11 lead in shots and a 7-4 lead in shots on goal, along with a 4-1 edge in corners, but Amanatidis was strong in goal throughout the afternoon, making five saves to help lead the Purple and Gold to victory.
For Wilmington, Charlie Phillips got the start in between the pipes and allowed all four goals without being credited for a save in the non-league loss.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday afternoon vs Southern Connecticut State beginning at 4 p.m. Fans are encouraged to allow extra time to arrive as West Chester will have a football game at 12 p.m. on South Campus, and there may still be residual traffic in the area from fans exiting that game.
