WEST CHESTER, Pa.- Needing a win to improve its PSAC Tournament prospects, the West Chester University men's soccer team (5-5-2, 2-3-1) returned home on Wednesday afternoon to take on rival East Stroudsburg (7-5-2, 3-2-1). West Chester battled throughout the afternoon, but it was an ESU goal midway through the second half that was the difference maker as the Warriors posted a 1-0 victory over the homestanding Golden Rams.
West Chester ended the first half with a 5-3 lead in shots and a 5-1 lead in corner kicks, nearly finding the first goal of the match on multiple occasions, including an early chance by
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley), which went off the top of the crossbar to keep the game scoreless.
West Chester won its fourth and fifth corners of the first half in the final five minutes of the opening half, but was unable to convert these into goals as the first chance ended with an offside flag before the final chance of the half was blocked away by the Warrior defense.
In the second half, East Stroudsburg increased its attack, peppering the West Chester defense with shots, taking 12 shots in the half, including three shots on goal, one of which proved to be the game-winner.
In the 71
st minute, East Stroudsburg drew a foul in front of its bench and Nathan Bradway sent the ensuing free kick to the far post, finding the head of a cutting Ethan Flickinger, who buried the chance past a leaping
Alexi Amanatidis (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./The Shipley School) to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
West Chester pressed for the equalizer down the stretch and had a handful of good opportunities, including a late chance by
Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) with just over six minutes to play, but it went high as the visiting Warriors held on for the one-goal victory.
East Stroudsburg ended the game with a 15-12 lead in shots and a 4-1 lead in shots on goal, while the Golden Rams finished the match with a 6-2 lead in corners.
Amanatidis made three saves in the setback, including two in the second half, while his counterpart Phil Sykes made one stop to keep the Golden Ram offense off the scoreboard.
With tonight's result, West Chester is now even at 1-1 in the season series with East Stroudsburg and catapults, at least momentarily, the Warriors into second place in the standings, while West Chester remains in fourth place with four league games to play.
Up Next
West Chester will play its second home game of the week and another pivotal league game at that against rival Bloomsburg on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 12 p.m.
