After an undefeated start to the season, the Shippensburg University men’s soccer team took on West Virginia Wesleyan College Bobcats at home on a cold Tuesday night, looking to continue its hot streak.

As the pattern had been through the first two games of the season, the Raiders got off to a quick offensive start. Forward Cole Kropnick continued his blistering form, scoring within five minutes off an assist from Patrick Luebben. 

The Wesleyan goalie Alessandro Armenia decided to attack the through ball and came out very aggressively, giving Kropnick an angle to shoot the ball underneath him and into the open net. 

The game was very scrappy early on, with both teams running into each other and committing six fouls combined within 15 minutes. 

Shippensburg had most of the possession and chances in the first half, with Wesleyan’s major chance coming off a cross into the box and the forward redirected the ball just off target in front of the open goal. Raider goalie Matt Harder was frozen, so had the player put the ball on target, Wesleyan would have tied the game. Wesleyan had a few other dangerous chances that were saved by Harder. 

The Raiders scored their second goal off a free kick after a tackle just outside the box with five minutes left in the first half. Kropnick stepped up to take it and fired a beautiful curved shot into the bottom-right corner, Armenia getting a hand on the ball but unable to keep it out. 

The second half started with pressure from both sides, but both defenses were up to the task. 

Wesleyan took control in the second half, earning most of the possession, with the Raiders stuck on defense for a large part of the half.

Wesleyan found its first breakthrough with 25 minutes left in the match after a through ball found its way behind a Raider defender and landed at the feet of Wesleyan forward Juwon Akintunde, who slotted the ball neatly past Harder to make it 2-1.

Less than 10 minutes later, the Bobcats were awarded a corner. The ball went directly into the net off the kick after Harder was surrounded by one of his defenders and a Wesleyan player, blocking him from having a good angle at stopping the ball. 

After the goal, the Bobcats continued to dominate possession with the Raiders having to clear the ball downfield or out of bounds every time they touched the ball. 

Regular time ended at 2-2, so extra time was necessary for the second game in a row for SU. 

A great chance came for the Raiders not long into the first half of extra time when they were awarded a free kick far outside the box. Kropnick took control and swung the ball into the box, finding Jan Striewe open in the box but he was only able to head it directly at the goalie. 

The rest of the half was fairly uneventful, with both teams trading possession. The Raiders ended the game with 23 fouls, but Shippensburg University head coach Jeremy Spering was pleased with the result as it was only the fifth time since 2008 that the team had finished the tie with a positive result. 

“Every single one of these games is really preparation to get ready for October 22 against Gannon. That’s the bottom line,” Spering said. “It’s all about the PSAC (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference).” 

SU plays Chowan University today at 3 p.m.

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