For those who enjoyed West Chester’s roller coaster ride to sneak into the playoffs last season, the beginning of the 2008 campaign has not disappointed. Just four games into the season the Golden Rams soccer squad has already felt the highs and the lows.Although it is hard to think of a win as a disappointment, the Golden Rams started the season by defeating Lincoln University 1-0 in overtime behind a Ricky Williamson goal. Lincoln had fallen to East Stroudsburg 14-0 earlier in the week. The following day the Golden Rams defeated Mercy College 6-3 behind a career high four goals from senior captain Mike Pryor.
The Golden Rams climbed to No. 23 in the nation and looked to be cruising to outdo their high expectations coming into the season. That was before a sobering 4-1 defeat to division rival Millersville. The game also saw head coach Kendall Walkes red carded, meaning he would miss Friday’s showdown with NYIT. Matt Aunet tallied his first career goal in the loss.
With Coach Walkes suspended things were looking bleak for the Golden Rams who would have to face a team that defeated top ranked East Stroudsburg. However, the Rams would not be intimidated as acting head coach Steve Blumenthal brought his team into the contest with a game plan that was implemented perfectly by the players resulting in a 1-0 win.
“It resets the team, now we are back to a place where our confidence is higher,” Blumenthal said about coming up with an upset after the tough loss to Millersville. “It was to prove to ourselves today that we belong with these teams and can compete like we have in the past. To play such a good opponent as NYIT and coming out with such a good result is real good for our confidence.”
The lone goal of the contest came from junior midfielder Jason Mackel with just six minutes remaining in the first half.
Freshman Alex Tobias made a physical run down the sidelines to win the Golden Rams a corner kick. It would be midfielder Tim Fry who delivered a beautiful ball through the box and skipping to junior defender Marc Michelle who was lingering alone on the far side of the box.
“[Michelle] made eye contact and put a perfect ball right at my head,” Mackel said.
The perfect ball found its way through the traffic and right to the head of Mackel who flicked the ball into the top corner of the goal.
“I deflected it to the back end and we were off,” Mackel said.
The Golden Rams struggled against Millersville midfielders and it was the Marauders play in the middle of the field that set up their four goals. During the competition against an extremely athletic and skilled NYIT squad the midfielders stepped up.
Though Jason Mackel was the only midfielder on the score sheet it was the physical play of Matt Aunet in the middle that set up numerous scoring opportunities and helped thwart the talented visitors from setting up any consistent offense.
“Matt Aunet has done a fantastic job this year so far, he’s really stepped up and filled that role nicely for us,” Blumenthal said. “That’s where we had some concern going into this game and those guys really came out with a passion and a little more desire to stick to our game plan.”
Tim Fry also brought physicality to the game in shutting down the high skilled NYIT offense. After an early miscue in the back Tim Fry recovered and brought the extra passion that Coach Blumental spoke of and played one of his best games as a Golden Ram.
If the midfield continues to play at this level in challenging the middle of the field and disrupting the opposition’s offense than East Stroudsburg’s reign as PSAC champions will be in jeopardy.
“We saw today what works and what doesn’t,” senior captain Mike Pryor said following the game. “I think we have to take what we can from this game and apply it to a conference game. We came out with a lot of intensity and I think we lacked that against Millersville.”
Though the Golden Rams boast an impressive 3-1 overall record, in division play they are 0-1. To make a run at being the first PSAC East Division champions the men will have to come up large on the road against Kutztown and East Stroudsburg in the upcoming week.
“We are not that 4-1 team against Millersville, we are a legit squad that needs to be reckoned with this year,” Blumenthal said.
Ken Schmidt is a fourth-year student majoring in communication studies. He can be reached at KS609536@wcupa.edu.