The West Chester University men’s Soccer team is back on track. Last Tuesday, the Golden Rams travelled to Shippensburg University to take on the Raiders. After a very exciting match, the squad took home a win, 2-1.
Shippensburg (3-7-2, 1-5 PSAC) opened the scoring just inside the starting five minutes of the game. After a foul was committed just outside the box, senior Derrick Roy for the Raiders received a short-cross entry off the free kick of senior Josh Gannon and re-directed the ball into the lower right corner of the net. This was the first and only lead of the game for the Raiders, as West Chester dominated the remainder of the showdown.
Just five minutes later, West Chester answered right back as a failed clear made its way outside of the box to Christian Benner. Benner ripped the loose ball over the crowd and into the lower left of the net about 10 yards away to tie the score 1-1 and record his first goal of the season. Benner has played solid for the Rams all season and his goal is a nice reward for the hard-working freshman.
Shippensburg attempted going in for another kill, but a shot by senior Fred Lucas was stopped short by WCU’s most consistent defender, Matt Palmer.
The score stood stagnant for a majority of the game, as both PSAC squads fought up and down the field. The Golden Rams did not muster a shot for the first 28 minutes of the second half, but managed to score the game-winning goal with only 12 minutes left to play. Freshman Alex Lean found fellow freshman Brett Glasco open in the clear and assisted him with the ball that closed the game 2-1.
Shippensburg recorded a 16-13 advantage in shots and a 7-6 edge in corner kicks. Sophomore Evan Ramist for the Raiders made three saves, all coming in the first half. West Chester’s goalkeeper picked up the win with a strong performance in goal, recording eight saves and only allowing one goal in 90 minutes of play.
Saturday afternoon at Rockwell field, the Golden Rams celebrated another win during the West Chester homecoming match up with Millersville University, shutting them out 2-0.
Senior Tommy Ryan proved his excellence again on offense, scoring both goals of the game, giving him four on the season. Ryan has led the Golden Rams squad in much of their success this season. The West Chester defense also held strong, resisting Millersville’s (4-9-1 3-4-0 PSAC) entire play. The Golden Rams outdid the Marauders, putting 14 shots to their seven on goal. While Millersville did have more corner kicks (7-5), they were ultimately unable to capitalize.
Ryan’s first goal for the team was unassisted as he went left to right toward the goal, stopped, and launched a shot into the right corner of the net giving the Rams a 1-0 advantage heading into the break.
Into the second half with 6:37 minutes to go, forward Miguel Ross raced down the left sideline, faked out to a defender, and was able to keep his balance finding Ryan on the right side for his second goal of the game.
Palmer recorded his fourth shutout of the season and improved his personal record to 6-3. Millersville goalkeeper, Kohl Orner, played the whole game in goal and made two saves. The Rams are back and with these important wins complete, the West Chester men’s soccer season is still hopeful and intact.
The Golden Rams will now wait for the arrival of Pitt-Johnstown on Wednesday at 1 p.m. for its new battle.
Pitt-Johnstown has had an extremely tough season as of late, recording a 1-12 record. The Rams will look to pounce on them early and secure the lead and win. There are no guarantees in sports, but this is a game the Rams should handle quite easily.
Gianna Seeney is a third-year student majoring in communications with a minor in journalism. She can be reached at GS789405@wcupa.edu