Josh Daniels. Photo Credits – Scott Rowan via wcupagoldenrams.com
The West Chester University men’s soccer team is back in action, looking to build off of a solid season a year ago in which they finished 11–3–2.
The Golden Rams kicked off the semester on Aug. 25 with a tough 2–1 loss at the hands of Jefferson University. Thomas Hanvey, a redshirt sophomore from Allentown, opened up the scoring for West Chester nine minutes into the game. The rest of the game was all Jefferson, however, as they responded with two unanswered goals to earn the victory and start the season off strong.
Since the Jefferson matchup, the Golden Rams have been on a roll, winning their last six games and outscoring their opponents 17–3 in the process including an impressive 5–1 victory against Holy Family in which we saw a pair of goals from junior Andrew Markopoulos.
Daniel Good has been a force in net, earning himself the PSAC Defensive Athlete of the Week. He has shut out opponents three times so far this year, which gives him 16 in his career. This is good enough for second all-time in West Chester University history. Additionally, he added an assist in the 2–0 victory against Lock Haven.
“It is always an honor to be recognized as one of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Athletes of the Week, but during the season you can’t let it get in your head and be a distraction from the next game and getting three points. I always try to celebrate those accomplishments after the season so it is not a distraction,” says Good, who is entering his third season at the helm for the Golden Rams. When asked about the biggest takeaway from his team this year, Good added, “I think we have a very talented group who is starting to gel and find our groove. We need to stay focused in training and during games so that we can be sharp to grind out results every game. We need to take it game by game and not start looking ahead. Every game in the PSAC is valuable.”
Trevor Looby, a junior from King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, also earned PSAC Athlete of the Week honors on the offensive end, scoring two goals including the game winner against Lock Haven in the late minutes of the contest. Looby has connected on all five of his shots on goal this season thus far, and has led an dynamic offensive unit that has outshot their opponents 124–61. As far as shots on goal, West Chester has put up a total of 58, which amounts to a 47% conversion rate compared to just 44% from their competitors. This is a testament to West Chester University’s ability to perform at a high level on both ends of the field.
West Chester has a wide range of PSAC matchups down the stretch including games against Millersville, Bloomsburg and East Stroudsburg which will go a long way in determining whether the Golden Rams can contend and make it back into the postseason for the first time since 2019 after being bounced from the PSAC Tournament a year ago.
For more information on the Golden Ram’s men’s soccer team including ticket sales, statistics and scheduling information, visit the West Chester Athletics website!
Erick Klambara is a fourth-year Media & Culture major with a minor in Journalism. EK924666@wcupa.edu