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Roster
WEST CHESTER, Pa.- After advancing to the Semifinal round of the PSAC Tournament for the second year in a row last November, the West Chester University men's soccer team enters 2025 with high expectations once again. The Golden Rams will kick off their 2025 season on Thursday afternoon at Jefferson, starting at 4 p.m.
"I'm very pleased with how the group has looked so far," opened head coach
Michael Benn when asked about his impressions of the team through two weeks of training. "I thought they had great fitness levels coming in and have shown great spirit and energy in training early on this season. I think the older players have also done an outstanding job of integrating our new players, so I'm generally pleased with what I've seen out of this team so far."
West Chester has experienced a resurgence of sorts over the last two seasons, advancing to the PSAC Championship game for the first time since 2018 in 2023. This achievement ultimately helped the team secure its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019, before returning to the PSAC Semifinals once again in 2024. Should West Chester accomplish the goals it has in front of it in 2025, which includes a return to PSAC Championship weekend and a return to the NCAA Tournament, it would mark the first time since a 2016-19 stretch that the Golden Rams have appeared in the semifinals in three or more consecutive seasons. It would also be the team's sixth NCAA Tournament appearance under the tutelage of head coach
Michael Benn.
When asked about the goal to build off back-to-back PSAC Championship weekend appearances, Benn said, "We've certainly had some good talent come through the program over the years. We lost some really key players to graduation, but I'm optimistic the guys we have returning can help lead us through. We have three seniors in
Owen Slack,
Jason Goldfeder, and
Dillon Barbieri, who have all played a lot of minutes in their careers and are all strong leaders. We are going to need to lean on their experience and leadership to help us throughout this upcoming season."
Preseason Prognostication
West Chester entered the PSAC Tournament as the third seed last year, advancing as the final team from the PSAC East before moving on to the PSAC Semifinals. Despite this impressive run and a host of returners from that squad, led by PSAC East Player of the Year,
Peter Tichy (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom), the Golden Rams were picked to finish fourth in the PSAC East this season, trailing Bloomsburg, Millersville, and East Stroudsburg in the preseason rankings.
Programming Note
Should West Chester find its way back to the PSAC Tournament as the second or third seed this fall, the Golden Rams would face a Western Division opponent in the Quarterfinals, as the 2025 season will be the first year of Crossover matchups in the Quarterfinal round. As in prior years, the top seed will once again receive a bye to the semifinals, with the highest seed in the West hosting the Championship weekend in 2025. The top seed in the PSAC East is slated to face the winner of the #2 West vs #3 East Quarterfinal matchup in its semifinal.
Flock Talk
West Chester returns an experienced group in 2025, headlined by 2024 PSAC East Player of the Year, Tichy, who led the team and PSAC East in points last year with 15. Tichy scored five goals and assisted on five more in 2025 as he became the Golden Rams' first conference Player of the Year honoree since Ricky Mucelli in 2005.
"Peter is a really talented soccer player," acknowledged Benn. "He is very clean with the ball and has a good head for the game. He dealt with some injuries in his first season, so last year he was a little bit of an unknown around the league. Obviously, after the season he had, we know he will be at the top of the scouting report for a lot of opponents, but I think he is talented enough and has a good enough soccer IQ that with the help of the coaching staff, he can make some adjustments and still make an impact."
West Chester returns its top three leading scorers from a year ago as
Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) and
Owen Slack (Collegeville, Pa./Perkiomen Valley) also return to the pitch for Benn's Golden Rams after contributing five goals and an assist each in over 1,200 minutes of work a season ago.
"We are very deep on the forward and midfield lines with both players that everyone knows and some younger players, like
Macade Knoblauch,
Joseph Maxwell,
Danny McGonagle,
Sean Duffy,
Lukas Bentsen, and
Zach Northey, who I think are poised to have breakout seasons. Our depth is going to be big for us this year as I think it will help us to throw a lot of different combinations and good energy at teams over the course of 90 minutes," explained Benn.
The Golden Rams defense is expected to be a blend of youth and experience in 2025 as the Golden Rams look to replace some familiar faces on the backline, highlighted by the graduation of
Cooper Jackson, who was a First Team All-League honoree last Fall. Jackson and
Devven Frey are the lone All-Conference players lost to graduation as West Chester returns Komperda, Slack,
Ian Alicea (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Lower Moreland), and
Jaden Howard (Townsend, Del./Middletown) in 2025. Alicea and Howard will be expected to help lead the Golden Ram defense in the new season.
Despite returning a pair of All-League honorees from a year ago, Benn acknowledges that the defense is a very young group. "Our defense is absolutely our youngest unit. Junior Captain
Ian Alicea is our oldest member, and we will be looking to him to help lead that group. Past that, we will be looking at some of the younger players, including
David Sierra,
Luke Harper, and
Alex Fedor, who all saw time as starters last year to continue their development this season."
Alicea enters his junior campaign after starting throughout each of his first two years as a Golden Ram and earning All-League certificates at the end of each of those seasons. The presence and vocal leadership of Alicea will be a great benefit for Howard, as the junior keeper enters his second season as the starter in goal for Benn's Golden Rams. Howard earned the starting job midway through the month of September last year and was excellent throughout the season, entering the postseason with a record of 6-5-2 with six shutouts and a 1.00 goals-against average. A two-time PSAC East Defensive Player of the Week, Howard backstopped West Chester to a 1-1 draw vs Millersville in the PSAC Quarterfinals before suffering a heartbreaking 1-0 OT loss to Gannon in the PSAC Semifinals despite an excellent eight-save effort in goal.
West Chester also returns a host other experienced players who are expected to once again make an impact all over the field, including
Macade Knoblauch (Pottstown, Pa./Boyertown), Mason Clatterbuck (Conshohocken, Pa./Plymouth Whitemarsh), Alex Fedor (Downingtown, Pa./Downingtown East), Jason Goldfeder (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff), Jack O'Brien (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest), Dillon Barbieri (Souderton, Pa./Souderton), Danny McGonagle (Glen Mills, Pa./Rustin), Luke Harper (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone), Joseph Maxwell (Langhorne, Pa./Neshaminy), Ian Warner (Carlisle, Pa./Carlisle), David Sierra (Collegeville, Pa./Spring Ford), Tyler Vagner (Mullica Hill, N.J./Clearview), and Sean Duffy (Hockessin, Del./Salesianum). Benn's Golden Rams also remain deep in the goalie position as
Alexi Amanatidis (Huntingdon Valley, Pa./Shipley), who split time with Howard early in 2024, returns along with sophomores
Caleb Addalia (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial)
and Michael Sarff (Camp Hill, Pa./Camp Hill).
"We are really deep in terms of keepers," said Benn. "Jaden (Howard) was our starter for most of the season and was an All-League guy for us, but Alexi (Amanatidis) played some good minutes for us last fall, and
Caleb Addalia and
Michael Sarff saw some minutes in the spring and in scrimmages this fall. The group trains really well, and we have a lot of confidence in all of them."
In addition to a talented and deep returning group, West Chester also welcomes in a host of talented newcomers, including
Michael Regan (Philadelphia, Pa./Father Judge), Lukas Bentsen (Erie, Pa./McDowell), Kenyon Carter (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East), Ryan Dauber (Homer, N.Y/.Tully JR-SR), Luke Newman (Mission Viejo, Cal./Santa Margarita Catholic), Zach Northey (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley), and Jordan Cairns (Shillington, Pa./Governor Mifflin).
"I've been impressed with how the new players have integrated themselves. They are really soaking in everything we are throwing at them, and they are definitely a talented group. I know they are looking to compete for minutes, and we may very well see a number of them play this year. I really want to see them continue to improve every day, and I'm expecting big things out of this group over these next four seasons."
West Chester will also have some new faces on the sideline in 2025 as 2024 assistant coach Rob Dallas departed South Campus for a head coaching job at nearby Immaculata University over the summer. When asked about the staff changes, Benn said, "I'm really happy for Rob- he's a great coach and that's a really well-deserved job for him. We brought back Maddy Evans in the spring, and she has been a great addition to our staff. With her experiences as a player and coach, the guys really took to her last spring, which has been great to see. We added Matt Goodall ahead of the fall after spending the last few seasons at Goldey-Beacom. Matt is a promising young coach with great energy, and he played soccer at Bloomsburg, so he knows Division II and the PSAC very well.
The Slate
West Chester will begin its season away from home on Thursday afternoon with a trip to CACC rival Jefferson for a 4 p.m. kick before hosting Holy Family on Saturday afternoon on South Campus beginning at 1 p.m. These two games are the first two of a rigorous six-game non-league slate, which will also include matchups against Wilmington, Southern Connecticut State, Mercy, Gannon, and California (Pa.) before opening league play against Millersville on October 1 at 3:30 p.m.
When asked about the strength of the PSAC East, Benn said, "There is not one easy game on that league schedule anymore. This division boasts tremendous players, coaches, and programs, and I know it'll come down to the final weekend to determine which three teams will qualify. All of our league games are in October, so it'll be a bit of a sprint to the finish. Hopefully, we are healthy and playing well at that point."
Opening Up
West Chester will open its season against Jefferson for the eighth consecutive year, boasting a record of 5-1-1 in such games, with the lone setback being a 2-1 defeat on Rockwell Field in August 2022. A season ago, Komperda gave West Chester a lead late in the first half before the Rams answered back with a goal of their own just 13 minutes into the second half to tie the score at 1-1. This proved to be the last goal of the afternoon as the Rams held off the Golden Rams, who finished the afternoon with a 14-6 lead in shots and a 5-2 lead in shots on goal for a 1-1 draw to open the season.
West Chester will open its home slate against Holy Family on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 1 p.m., as the Golden Rams look to run their winning streak against the Tigers to 13 in a row.
