Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
WCU upset in NCAA Division II opener
For the first time in West Chester’s Division II men’s soccer history, West Chester University (152-5) is advancing to the NCAA Final Four after defeating East Region champion Adelphi (17-42) on Saturday afternoon. West Chester scored a pair of goals in the second half to knock off another No. 1 seed, defeating Adelphi, 2-0.
This is the Golden Rams’ first Final Four appearance as a Division II team, and it is also believed to be West Chester’s first final four appearance in men’s soccer since 1961 when West Chester went 13-0-0 and was crowned national champions.
The Final Four is set for Thursday, November 29 at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, home of the professional Pittsburgh Riverhounds.
Doug Goitia opened the scoring for West Chester off an assist from Daniel Grindrod, which gave West Chester a 1-0 lead in the 47th minute.
In the 74th minute, Stephen Thompson continued his red-hot NCAA Tournament, scoring his third goal of the tournament off a rebound following a Golden Ram corner. This goal gave West Chester a 2-0 lead, which proved to be too much for Adelphi to overcome.
West Chester ended the game with a 9-5 advantage in shots and a 5-1 advantage in shots on goal. West Chester also out cornered Adelphi by a 7-4 margin.
Will Marshall made one huge save in goal to keep the Panthers at bay en route to his 14th victory of the year. Marshall also now holds the record for most wins a single season by a West Chester goalie, surpassing Andrew Shafer and Will Marshall after picking up his 14th victory of the year this afternoon.
West Chester will now turn its attention to the Final Four, which will get underway on November 29th with the Championship game should the Golden Rams advance being played on December 1st.
Men’s Basketball MILLERSVILLE 76, LINCOLN 72>>
Lincoln placed four players in double figures, but it was not enough as the Marauders came away with a hard-fought win.
The Lions fall to 1-2 with the loss while Millersville improves to 3-1.
Cameron Campbell led all scorers with 21 points (9-17 FG, 3-7 from 3) while Deaquan Williams and Jordan Camper each recorded double-doubles. Camper finished the game with ten points (6-8 FT, 2-5 FG) and 12 rebounds while Williams scored 15 points (612 FG, 3-3 FT) and grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds. Williams’ 17 rebounds are the most by a Lincoln player in the program’s Division II history. Bernard Lightsey came off the bench to add 12 points (5-9 FG, 2-5 3FG).
SOUTHERN VIRGINIA 80, IMMACULATA 77 >>
The Mighty Macs (2-4) nearly completed an improbable comeback on Saturday afternoon at Alumnae Hall as they trailed by as many as 26 points in the first half, but clawed all the way back to take a late lead, however the Knights (1-2) retook the lead and held on.
The Mighty Macs were led by two great efforts from junior Kristopher Bobo (eight rebounds) and sophomore Asa Kitchen (four assists) as they each poured in 18 points.
WEST CHESTER 88, SALEM 78>>
Looking to avoid its longest losing streak since 2016-17, West Chester (2-2) was led by a career-high 24 points from sophomore Destiny Jefferson and got the win it was looking for in what was a high-scoring affair throughout. Jefferson and Gabrielle Troisi were the Golden Rams’ leading scorers as Jefferson poured in a game- and career-high 24 points while Troisi registered another double-double with 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Jefferson also ended the game as the assist leader dishing out a game-high eight helpers before the final whistle.
IMMACULATA 70, CAIRN 57 >>
After winning big in their first victory of the season earlier in the week, the Macs rode that momentum to a big first quarter and never looked back to even up their record at 2-2.
Senior Amber Balligner continued her outstanding season with 23 points on a career-best 15-for-16 from the free throw line while also pulling down six boards and three steals. Sophomore Natalie Ayoub nearly had a double-double with 14 points and nine boards, and junior Annie Kohutka added 13.