It was an eventful week for WCU soccer, as both the men’s and women’s Golden Rams teams had matchups against PSAC divisional rivals, as they continue to make their pushes for playoff positioning.
The men’s side put forth yet another dominant defensive, as shown in a 2–0 win against Shippensburg University’s Raiders to improve to a 9–2–3 record on the season. The Golden Rams put pressure on the Raiders all afternoon as they outshot them 27–7 and also had 10 shots on goal to only one for the opposition. Shippensburg’s goalie, senior Cody Willoughby, tried his best to keep his team in the game by contributing seven saves. However, it proved to not to be enough in the end — as West Chester’s goalie, redshirt senior Daniel Good, earned the shutout victory for the Golden Rams.
This was Good’s 40th career win as goalkeeper, an amazing accomplishment that ties the program record. On the offensive side of the ball, West Chester was led by freshman Ian Alicea and redshirt freshman Peter Tichy, who both scored the first goal of their collegiate careers.
This victory kept West Chester in their spot atop the PSAC East standings with two weeks left in the regular season. They will face one of their biggest rivals, Millersville University, for that top spot this Wednesday, Oct. 25.
On the women’s side of things, there was a hard-fought matchup that ended up in a 0–0 tie against Kutztown University. Kutztown was undefeated heading into this matchup with a 10–0–3 record and were ranked seventh nationally while leading the PSAC East. The Golden Rams tieing with them has proven they can hang with the best of the best.
West Chester is also having a great season of their own, with a newly-acquired 8–3–2 record after a tie that has them sitting in second place in the PSAC East. These two teams were close to even all throughout the contest as they both took nine shots total, with Kutztown having a 5–3 advantage with shots on goal. Golden Rams goalie, freshman Grace Keen, was paramount to preserving the tie and keeping the Golden Bears offense at bay by contributing five saves. West Chester looks to get back in the win column this Saturday, Oct. 21, against Lock Haven University, who are 4–8–1 on the season.
Be sure to keep an eye out for the matchup between West Chester sophomore, Faith Matter, and Lock Haven senior, Evelyn Ciaccia. They are both coming off of a stellar week capped off by the players being named the Eastern Division Co-Athletes of the Week. Matter had two game-winning goals in that span, which now has her in a tie for first in the PSAC.
Colin Bradley is a fourth-year English major with a minor in Journalism. CB953277@wcupa.edu