WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's soccer team (5-4-2, 2-2-1) returns home on Wednesday for a crucial PSAC East battle against East Stroudsburg (6-5-2, 2-2-1) as the regular season enters its final weeks. Kickoff in this important matchup, which boasts major PSAC Tournament implications is set for 3 p.m.
West Chester vs East Stroudsburg
Match Details: October 22 I 3 P.M.
Location: Rockwell Field (West Chester, Pa.)
Coverage Links: Live Stats I
Watch
Series: 43-47-19
WCU Links: NEWS I
ROSTER I
SCHEDULE I
STATS
ESU Links: NEWS I
ROSTER I
SCHEDULE I
STATS
Last Time Out
West Chester went on the road on Saturday, looking for its first win since an October 8 victory at East Stroudsburg against a winless Shippensburg team.
Luke Newman (Mission Viejo, Cal./Santa Margarita Catholic) gave West Chester a first half lead but Shippensburg tied the match at 1-1 early in the second half to escape with a 1-1 draw over the visiting Golden Rams. West Chester ended the game with a 14-6 lead in shots and a 5-2 lead in shots on goal, although corners were even at 3-3.
Alexi Amanatidis (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./The Shipley School) earned the start in goal and made just one second-half save, while Ryan Krumenacker made four stops for Shippensburg.
Flock Talk
Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) remains first on the team in scoring with five goals and one assist for 11 points, while Newman and
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) are tied for second on the team with two goals and four assists for eight points.
Peter Tichy (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom), the reigning PSAC East Player of the Year, is third on the team in scoring with two goals and three assists for seven points on the year.
Jaden Howard (Townsend, Del./Middletown) has played the majority of the time in goal this season, playing to a record of 4-4-1 with a 1.78 goals-against average. Amanatidis made his second start of the year on Saturday at Shippensburg after also earning the start at Southern Connecticut State and remained unbeaten, moving to 1-0-1 on the season with a 1.00 goals-against average and five saves.
The Playoff Picture
Despite going just 1-2-1 in its last four games dating back to an October 4 loss at Bloomsburg, West Chester remains in a good position to make the PSAC Tournament, albeit as a three seed as the team is tied with East Stroudsburg (6-5-2, 2-2-1) for third in the conference standings after posting a win over the Warriors on the road earlier this month. West Chester's win at ESU was the Golden Rams' first win on the road against the Warriors since 2019, and has the Golden Rams thinking about the possibility of a season sweep of the Warriors for the first time since 2019. West Chester and ESU have seven points each, and the Golden Rams own the tiebreaker while also sitting just three points back of first-place Millersville, whom West Chester also defeated and owns a tiebreaker over earlier this season.
Home Sweet Home
Wednesday's game will be the first of two straight in West Chester for the Golden Rams as the team will face Bloomsburg on Saturday to conclude its two-game homestand. Saturday's game will be the team's final October home game and will also be the end of the first homestand since the September 27th-October 1st stretch, which saw West Chester defeat California 3-1 on Senior Day and Millersville 2-1 in the PSAC East opener.
Don't I Know You?
Colin Muller, who was a member of the Golden Rams national runner-up squad in 2018, continues to be the top assistant for East Stroudsburg under head coach Tom Mustac, who is in his third season at the helm of the Warriors.
Series History
Despite West Chester's road victory over the Warriors earlier in the month, East Stroudsburg maintains a 47-43-19 lead over West Chester in the all-time series. West Chester posted its first road win over ESU since 2019 and is now in search of its first season sweep of ESU since 2019. West Chester posted a home victory over ESU by a 3-2 final last October, which halted a two-game home losing streak against ESU after falling to the Warriors by 3-0 and 2-1 finals on Rockwell Field in 2022 and 2023.
Scouting ESU
East Stroudsburg (6-5-2, 2-2-1) enters play on Wednesday following a 1-0 loss at Millersville on Saturday, which halted a modest two-game winning streak, which had seen East Stroudsburg defeat Shippensburg by a 4-2 final at home on October 11 and defeat Goldey-Beacom on the road by a 1-0 final on October 14. On Saturday at Millersville, the Marauders scored just 16 minutes into the match and made this early tally last in a 1-0 win over the visiting Warriors.
Owen Rennie and Jace Seara are first and second on the team in scoring with five goals and two assists for 12 points each while Nathan Bradway and Ryan Kiernan are tied for second with seven points (three goals/one assist).
Kevin Kretschman enters play with a record of 5-4-2 with a 1.13 goals-against average and 24 saves in 11 starts. Phil Sykes has started the last two matches after entering late in the victory over Shippensburg and is 0-1-0 on the year with a 0.85 goals-against average and 10 saves in 213 minutes of action.
Up Next
West Chester will remain home on Saturday to take on Bloomsburg beginning at 12 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early and expect delays due to traffic from the home football game against Kutztown in Farrell Stadium. Additionally, fans should expect to pay to park as all lots on South Campus are pay lots during home football games. Parking is $10 per card and card only. Carpooling is encouraged.
