Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Cinderella Men
WCU men’s soccer pulls off another upset, will play for national championship on Saturday
Field Hockey: Top-seeded Rams overrun by PSAC foe Shippensburg
It last happened 57 years ago, but the wait only makes the accomplishment all the more impressive. For the first time since winning it all back in 1961, the West Chester men’s soccer squad is going to play a match with the national championship at stake.
The underdog Golden Rams staged another monumental upset on Thursday to advance to Saturday’s NCAA Division II Title Game. Senior Jason Pixley notched the game winner midway through the first overtime, giving the third-seeded Rams a 2-1 triumph over second-seeded Cal Poly-Pomona in semifinal action from Pittsburgh’s Highmark Stadium.
Head coach Michael Benn said: “Our goals came on two great individual moments of brilliance.
“It was a character win,” he added in a phone interview. “I do not think it was our best performance and I know we can play better than that. So to find a way to win in a national semifinal is a credit to the character of our guys. They stuck together, they stayed positive and they kept battling.”
Now 16-2-5 overall, WCU will take on No. 4 Barry (FL) for the crown on Saturday at noon. The Buccaneers (15-4-3 overall) edged top-seeded Fort Hays St. (KS) on penalty kicks in the earlier semifinal.
The NCAA Final Four Festival experience was, however, quite a bit different for the West Chester Field Hockey squad. The Rams were blanked 4-0 by Shippensburg in the NCAA Division II Semifinal after sweeping the Raiders in two earlier meetings by a combined score of 5-1, including a win in the PSAC Championship Game.
Both the soccer and field hockey contests were held at the same time in frigid conditions at two venues in Pittsburgh separated by about two miles. The field hockey action was over rather quickly at Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field at Duquesne.
But Pixley didn’t end the soccer marathon until the 95th minute, when he took a crossing pass from teammate Dan Grindrod and headed it into the net with 5:44 on the clock in the OT session. A Philadelphia native, it was Pixley’s eighth goal of the 2018 season.
“My guess is that about threequarters of Jason’s career goals have been game-winners,” Benn said. “He just has an unbelievable knack for getting in the right place at a key moment.
“What happened next was one of my favorite moments as a coach: to see the joy of the team. It was a natural reaction – they don’t have time to think about what they are going to do. “It was a great moment.” With every victory, WCU establishes a new milestone as a Division II program. The Rams won their first regional crown earlier this month to advance to their first Final Four appearance, and now a berth in the title game. In 1961 under head coach Mel Lorback, West Chester captured it’s only NCAA men’s soccer championship, and it happened during an era in which there were no divisions.
“This is massive for us,” Benn said. “When I took this job, I knew the history here. I believe I’m only the fourth head coach in the history of this program and this is our 90th year.
“We wanted to try to get the program back up on the national stage. All credit goes to our young men. They are the ones out there putting in the sacrifices and the commitment to get us back to this point.
“I’ve already heard from so many alumni. This is certainly a big moment for our program and the athletic department.”
Following a first half in which Cal Poly-Pomona dominated the play, the Broncos took a 1-0 lead on a header by Eduardo Faria in the opening minutes of the second half. But about five minutes later, Chadds-Ford resident Eric Greer registered the equalizer for WCU.
“No question, we got out-played in the first half,” Benn said. “We went into the half and tried to regroup.”
Greer’s goal with about 30 minutes remaining in regulation was the first surrendered by Cal PolyPomona in the entire 2018 postseason. A freshman out of Unionville High School, it was also Greer’s only goal so far this season.
“The boys responded well in the second half, and for Eric to get his first collegiate goal in that moment, I am so happy for him,” Benn said. “He’s been a very integral part of our team, and I thought he would be that when I recruited him.
“That was kind of the moment when our guys said, ‘OK, we can do this.’ It also kind of deflated Cal Poly a little bit.”
“Jazmin (Petrantonio) played absolutely phenomenal. She single-handedly beat us. We gave her way too much space. We’ve never played that way against her.”
Unlike the earlier meetings this season, the Rams got off to a slow start, lost the battle for momentum and never got it back. The Raiders had the edge in shots (1510) and corners (7-4).
“We just started a little slow and were a little flat,” Cohen acknowledged. “The field surface was slower than we thought and we tried to practice (Friday) but it was in a snow storm. We just played hesitant.
“I certainly didn’t anticipate getting scored on four times. I am surprised we didn’t put up a little more of a fight. And the kids are just as surprised. It wasn’t an effort thing, we just weren’t able to play as a unit as we have all season long.”
West Chester finishes the season at 17-3, and along the way the Rams were able to successfully defend their PSAC title from 2017.
“We had a phenomenal season,” Cohen said. “We were able to go back-to-back as conference champions.
“We hadn’t been to a final four in a few years, and we have a lot of great players coming back so hopefully they will learn what it takes to play in this kind of game.”
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