WEST BRADFORD – Just four days earlier, the West Chester men’s soccer squad came perilously close to missing the postseason altogether.
But the Golden Rams notched a late game-winner against Shippensburg on Thursday to secure a berth into the PSAC Tournament. And on Monday WCU earned the program’s third straight trip to the conference semifinals with a tense and physical 1-0 quarterfinal victory over Lock Haven at Rockwell Field.
“Last week against Shippensburg, we were 10 minutes away from not even making the playoffs,” said senior captain Owen Slack. “But this group deserves it, the way we work day in and day out from early August to play in these kinds of games.
“It’s my fourth year of doing it, but it never gets old.”
Seeded second from the PSAC East, the Rams (10-5-3 overall) travel to top-seeded Gannon on Friday, with a spot in the title game at stake. The No. 3 seed from the PSAC West, the Bald Eagles’ season ends with an 8-7-4 mark.
“Our conference is very hard, so to be one of the final four teams standing in each of the last three years is certainly an accomplishment,” said West Chester head coach Michael Benn.
“We certainly want to go further than just making the final four, but it is something to be celebrated. There are a lot of programs that don’t make it once.”
The Rams are on a bit of a roll, with a 5-0-1 record in their last six. And junior goaltender Alexi Amanatidis has been a big part of the late-season surge. Since taking over as the starting keeper in mid-October after an injury to Jaden Howard, Amanatidis has surrendered just five goals in eight outings, including four shutouts.
“Even when you’re not playing, or you’re the third keeper, you have to come to practice every day, play your best and try to get your spot back,” he said. “Luckily I was able to do so.
“Our (defensive) back four is great, and they are the reason we get the clean sheets, it’s not just me. It takes a collective effort.”
Locked in a scoreless defensive battle through 63 minutes of action, WCU finally broke through following a persistent possession putting pressure on the Lock Haven defense. Junior forward Peter Tichy settled a rebounded shot, fired it right back and a defender was whistled for a handball.
“In postseason play, there is not going to be a ton of scoring chances,” Benn pointed out. “Restarts are very important. I was happy with how we started the second half on the front foot, really getting after (Lock Haven).
“The PK comes because of the energy we played with. Peter not giving up on the play, picking up a loose ball and forcing (LHU) into a spot that led to the handball.”
It then led to a penalty shot, and Slack proceeded to bury it into the lower left corner to make it 1-0 with 26:34 to go.
“Owen stepped up the way you would hope your senior captain would do,” Benn said.
“Peter (Tichy) had a shot off a rebound and the (defender) stuck his arm out to block it. I thought it was going in,” Slack recalled.
“I knew I wanted to find one of the corners and was able to do it with enough power. I think the keeper got a hand on it but it was tucked away in the corner.”
It was, in fact, the first attempted penalty shot of West Chester’s season.
“We work on penalties, and I appreciate all four of our goaltenders for helping,” Slack said. “I know we haven’t gotten many, but you have to be prepared to do it when you get your chance.”
Even though the Eagles had limited scoring chances, their best came about five minutes later when LHU’s Noah Brady forced Amanatidis to make a sprawling save in traffic.
“Alexi has been fantastic in goal for us,” Benn said. “We are blessed. We have an excellent goalkeeper’s room. We have four good ones and when their name is called, they are ready to go.
“He made one fantastic save and that saved the game in that moment. Our back line (of defenders) is very organized, they compete well and did not give Lock Haven a lot of room in critical moments.”
That was certainly the case the rest of the way. The final stats were close, with the Eagles having a 7-6 edge in corner kicks, and the Rams with a 7-5 advantage in shots on goal. The overall shots were 20-12 in WCU’s favor, and 27 fouls were dished out.
“We were expecting a certain level of physicality because it is the postseason,” Benn said. “It was a little more physical than I thought it would be, but both teams played to what the referees were allowing. It wasn’t dirty, but two competitive teams that wanted to win.
“I was proud of our response, and I think we did an OK job of keeping our heads. We didn’t do anything egregious.”
The clash took place on a chilly afternoon with 20 mile power hour winds. West Chester had the wind in its face for the second half, but still managed to overcome the disadvantage.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, and we’ve been preparing for it all week,” Amanatidis said. “We were ready to go today.
“We knew we needed to come out with intensity, and we needed a little more because it’s the playoffs.”
The Rams fell to Gannon 3-1 back on Sept. 20th early in the regular season, but WCU is now playing its best soccer of the season.
“We’ve definitely found our stride and what works for us,” Slack said. “Everybody is hitting peak form at the right time, which is what you want in the playoffs.”
West Chester 1, Lock Haven 0
Lock Haven 0 0 – 0
West Chester 0 1 – 1
West Chester goal: Slack.
Goalie saves: Beck (LH) 5; Amanatidis (WC) 5.
Source: Berkshire mont