If the 2012 edition of the West Chester University men’s soccer team is to do any better than last year, it cannot play like it did during the first week of the season.
The Golden Rams completed that first week of play on Saturday, losing 2-0 to visiting Wheeling Jesuit University at the South Campus Fields. It was the team’s second loss in as many games, as they also lost 1-0 to Shepherd in an away match on Wednesday.
Despite controlling possession for large stretches of the game against a team that was made up largely of international players, West Chester was unable to get on the scoreboard at all for the second straight game.
West Chester looked lively from kickoff, creating a number of dangerous chances in and around the Wheeling Jesuit penalty area. In the fifth minute, starting winger Roberto Silva found himself open in the box and he unleashed a shot, but Wheeling goalkeeper Cody Thompson was there for the save. Three minutes later, Jake Maxwell saw his own shot saved by Thompson after executing a prepared play off a free kick with Conor Malarney.
Wheeling Jesuit woke up quickly, though, and in the tenth minute Nicolay Netskar found himself wide open in the penalty area only for his free header to go just high and wide of the West Chester net. But four minutes later, Carlos Avila found Netskar on a breakaway and the freshman from Norway calmly finished past Golden Rams goalie Garrett Bleiler to put Wheeling up 1-0.
The Golden Rams looked shellshocked after conceding the goal, and it cost them because just eight minutes after their first goal, Wheeling managed to double their lead when Ignacio Fernandez, a sophomore from Argentina, headed in a corner kick to make it 2-0.
The rest of the first half saw neither team create much of anything, leaving West Chester 45 minutes to try and mount a comeback.
They came close a number of times, perhaps the best chance belonging to sophomore forward Cameron Scott, when his header went just wide in the 60th minute. Dan Venuto saw his header go just wide as well off of a free kick in the 70th minute.
Wheeling almost scored a dagger when Avila created space for himself near the West Chester goal and tried to curl a shot around substitute goalie Kevin Marron, but it went just wide. A minute later, West Chester missed out on what would end up being the last good chance of the game when Taylor Eisenhauer got his head on a corner kick only for the Wheeling goalie to grab it.
While the run of play certainly belonged to West Chester throughout the second half, the final whistle sounded without them managing to score, and Wheeling left with a 2-0 victory.
There were bright spots for the Golden Rams, particularly along the flanks, where wingers Silva and Benner were able to make dangerous runs and take on defenders one-on-one.
“We need to work on getting up and finding our targets, working with the wingers that we have,” said sophomore midfielder Christian Benner. “We have a lot of speed out wide, so we can use that to our benefit and serve balls in. Right now we just need to focus on getting the ball on frame.”
Perhaps the most disappointing part of the result was the fact that West Chester has now gone 180 minutes without a goal to start the season, despite creating numerous chances.
“Obviously, we need to capitalize when we’re down,” said Maxwell, one of a number of seniors on the squad. “In the offensive third, we need to capitalize and just run with conviction when we’re there, and just be committed as a team and run as a team.”
Earlier in the week, West Chester opened their 2012 campaign with a 1-0 loss to Shepherd in an away match. While the team has started 0-2, neither of the losses were league games, which are the ones that really matter in the long run. With a roster loaded with experienced seniors, this team has a chance to make a run at the PSAC playoffs if it can begin to earn consistent results.
“We have a lot of seniors, so expectations are high,” said Benner. “We feel that we can do really well. We were looking to do well to start off, but these are non-league games, so they aren’t our real focus. Once we get closer and closer to our conference games, that’s where it really counts and that’s where we need to step up.”
The Golden Rams return to the field this week as they host Holy Family on Thursday before traveling to face the New York Institute of Technology in an away contest on Sunday. The following week, West Chester will begin that all-important slate of conference games with a trip to Shippensburg.
Joey Samuel is a fourth-year student majoring in political science and Spanish. He can be reached at JS719745@wcupa.edu.