WEST CHESTER, Pa.- The West Chester University men's soccer team (6-4-5, 5-3-1) is set to return to action on Thursday afternoon at Shepherd (9-3-3, 4-3-2) with the chance to earn at least a share of the PSAC East Regular Season title for the first time since 2018 with a win over the Rams. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. at the Shepherd Soccer Complex.
West Chester at Shepherd
Game Details: October 29 - 3 P.M. | Shepherd Soccer Complex (Shepherdstown, W.V.)
Series: 12-5-0
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Shepherd Links: NEWS I
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Five Things to Know
- West Chester and Shepherd both know that the 2026 season will continue in the PSAC Tournament next week. When and where this Sunday's quarterfinal will be played remains an open question. Millersville, West Chester, East Stroudsburg, and Shepherd make up the PSAC East playoff teams and are separated by just two points, as the Marauders and Golden Rams are tied for first with 16 points each, followed by East Stroudsburg with 15 and Shepherd with 14. With a win on Thursday, West Chester will be a top-two seed and will host a PSAC Quarterfinal on Sunday, while anything less than a win will likely send the Golden Rams on the road to one of the top two seeds in the PSAC West (Gannon, Seton Hill, or Lock Haven), as West Chester will drop into third or fourth depending on other results. The door remains open for West Chester to capture the PSAC East Regular-Season title, as the Golden Rams could do so with a win and either a Millersville draw or loss to a surging Shippensburg team, which handed East Stroudsburg a 1-0 loss on Saturday afternoon.
- West Chester enters play on Thursday on a five-game unbeaten streak, although the Golden Rams are winless in their last two games, with a pair of 1-1 draws against Lackawanna and the College of Staten Island last week to finish off non-league play. West Chester surrendered the tying goal with under five seconds to play against Lackawanna before picking up the tying goal thanks to Keagan Penny (Lincoln University, Pa./Avon Grove) with just over five minutes to play in a draw at CSI on Saturday afternoon.
- Maksym Komperda (Whitehall, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic) and Peter Tichy (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) are tied for the team lead in scoring with 11 points each. Komperda has five goals and an assist to his name, while Tichy has four goals and three assists. Lukas Bentsen (Erie, Pa./McDowell) is third in scoring with three goals and an assist for seven points. In goal, Jaden Howard (Townsend, Del./Middletown) is 6-3-4 with a 0.74 goals-against average and seven shutouts.
- Shepherd (9-3-3, 4-3-2) enters play on a three-game winning streak, including a 3-1 win at Millersville, a 6-0 win over Lackawanna, and a 2-1 win over Bloomsburg on Saturday afternoon. Josh Petty, who was sidelined in the first meeting against the Golden Rams after a late red card at Bloomsburg in the previous game, leads Shepherd in scoring with six goals and an assist for 13 points, while Harry Booth has four goals and three assists for 11 points. Moulay El Yagouti is next with four goals and an assist for nine points. In goal, Aidan Houck is 8-3-3 with a 1.07 goals-against average and a pair of shutouts.
- West Chester improved to 12-5-0 against Shepherd earlier this season on Rockwell Field as the Golden Rams closed out Homecoming Weekend in West Chester with a 1-0 win over the Rams to avenge a home loss last season, which was the Golden Rams first home loss to Shepherd since October 2011.
Up Next
West Chester will open the PSAC Tournament on Sunday afternoon in the PSAC Quarterfinals. The location and time of this game will be determined by the results of games, including the Golden Rams' visit to Shepherd on Thursday afternoon.
