SHIPPENSBURG, Pa.- Looking to build off its PSAC East opening victory on Saturday afternoon, the West Chester University men's soccer team (4-2-1, 1-1-0) took to the road on Wednesday night for a matchup against rival Shippensburg (2-3-0, 1-1-0). Shippensburg followed a similar script to West Chester on Saturday, scoring twice in the first 20 minutes of play and riding these early goals to a 3-0 victory over the Golden Rams.
Ashton Davies gave Shippensburg the early 1-0 lead just two minutes into the match before the Raiders doubled their lead in the 21
st minute when Luca Heusser matched Davies with his second goal of the year to give the Raiders an early 2-0 advantage.
West Chester pressured the Shippensburg defense throughout the half, taking seven shots in the first 45 minutes, although only two required a save by Ryan Krumenacker as the Raiders held a 2-0 advantage at the halftime break.
Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) had a pair of good opportunities early in the second half as he knocked on the door of his fifth goal of the year, but Krumenacker was up to the task, making two more excellent saves to deny Komperda and maintain a two-goal lead into the final 20 minutes of the match.
With just under seven minutes remaining, Shippensburg stretched its lead to 3-0 as Cam Henry scored his first goal of the young season off an assist from Heusser following a long throw-in.
With a comfortable three-goal lead, the host Raiders pressed for more in the final minutes of the match, getting a corner with just over two-and-a-half minutes to play after a leaping save by
Alexi Amanatidis (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./The Shipley School) just moments earlier.
Amanatidis made five big saves to keep West Chester in the match throughout the night, while his counterpart, Krumenacker, was outstanding, making six saves to slow the PSAC East-leading West Chester offense.
Despite its first PSAC East shutout since October of the 2023 season, West Chester ended the match with an 18-9 lead in shots and a 10-4 lead in corners, although Shippensburg ended the night with an 8-6 lead in shots on goal after taking each of the last two shots on target of the night.
Tonight's setback is the Golden Rams first shutout at the hands of the Raiders since 2010 and goes as the largest win for Shippensburg in series history, surpassing a trio of 3-1 wins in 2011, 2000, and 1996.
Up Next:
West Chester returns to action on Saturday at California (Pa.) at 3:30 p.m.
