West Chester men’s soccer team (5-5-2, 3-3 PSAC) put together an up and down past two weeks. They were able to come away from the action with a 2-2 record. With a win in Thursday’s game they were able to pull to .500 for the first time since their second game of the season.
The Rams were unable to end the month of September with a victory when they visited Millersville on Sept. 29. Conceding a goal in the opening minute of the game was only the beginning of their troubles against a tough PSAC foe. Goals in the 20th and 89th minutes unfortunately shut the door for any chance of salvaging the early goal against them. They were unable to get any offense rolling, making the opposing keeper record only three saves, while West Chester keeper Matt Palmer was under attack for most of the game coming up with eight saves.
The beginning of October didn’t fair any better for the Rams as they dropped a hard fought battle against out-of-league opponent Concordia. Late goals in the 78th and 81st minutes were the deciding factors in a tough lose. The team was able to take the most shots and win more corner kicks in the game but was unable to put any chances on goal and make the opponents keeper record any saves. The loss marked the first time all season West Chester was held scoreless in back-to-back losses.
Tuesday’s action against PSAC foe Pitt-Johnstown saw an offensive explosion with a convincing 5-0 victory in league play. With the victory, they were able to climb into fifth place in the conference and temporarily secure a spot in the PSAC tournament that begins next month. In the first half they were only able to net one goal in the 5th minute that came in virtue of a shot from the edge of the penalty box line by sophomore Max Adarkwah that was able to get past the keeper. The Golden Rams opened the second half surging with two goals from Miguel Ross in the first eight minutes and they never looked backed. Goals in the 61st and 63rd from Brett Beaumont and Wyatt Dugan, respectively, built an insurmountable lead and put away a much needed victory for the men’s team. West Chester considerably outshot their opponent 21-2 while forcing the opposing keeper to make nine saves as opposed to no saves being recorded by Palmer.
Thursday’s match against out-of-league opponent Goldey-Beacom saw similar results as the Rams were able to pull out a well battled 2-1 victory. With the victory, they saw their record pull to an even .500 on the season. A header right inside the box by Kyle Hoops at the 34 minute mark gave West Chester a lead going into half time. This lead was quickly leveled when Goldey-Beacom was able to net an equalizer in the 51st minute off a header from a free kick. 11 minutes later, the Rams were able to pull ahead off a redirected deflection by Ross that later turned out to be the deciding factor in a physical match that saw five yellow cards, one of which turned into a red card that left the opponent to fend the last 10 minutes with only 10 men. Thursday’s match also saw freshman goalkeeper James Wood pick up his first collegiate win in 90 minutes of action.
Thursday marked the Ram’s final out-of-league game as the rest of the remaining five games left on the schedule are all against PSAC foes. The rest of the way the men’s team will be battling for a spot in the PSAC tournament. At the moment they sit in a tie for sixth place with Cal Pa. Three of their final games will be against teams that are currently ahead in the standing as they hope to string together some wins to move up ahead of them.
Maxwell Randolph is a third-year student majoring in English. He can be reached at MR829829@wcupa.edu