Shippensburg University’s men’s soccer team hosted two games this week. The Raiders fell to Shepherd University 2-1 on Wednesday and tied East Stroudsburg University 1-1 on Saturday afternoon, with both matches being Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division matchups.
On Wednesday, the Raiders fell to Shepherd University, losing 2-1. Sophomore Luke Kramer put the Raiders in the lead with his goal in the 44th minute, but the Raiders were unable to recover from two Shepherd goals in the second half. Kramer nearly scored a second goal shortly before the end of the game, but his shot was just wide of the net.
On Saturday, the Raiders took the lead again in the first half against ESU, but ESU tied the match before halftime, and neither team found the back of the net in the second half.
Junior goalkeeper Cody Willoughby made his first save not even two minutes into the first half. Within the first 11 minutes, Willoughby already made three saves to keep the score equal.
The Raiders started pushing more after that and forced the ESU goalkeeper to make a pair of saves, but they could not find the net.
One of the biggest moments of the game was the save on the goal line by senior Avery Warrick. The shot was already over and behind Willoughby, but Warrick jumped and headed away a sure goal for ESU in the 23rd minute.
Senior Nathan Weldon scored his second goal of the season to put the Raiders 1-0 ahead following a corner from junior Ashton Davies. Davies, who already scored a few Olimpico goals from corners this season, brought in the ball close to the goal. The ESU goalkeeper caught it, but his momentum was heading backward over the line, so he had to drop the ball and Weldon took advantage of that and scored.
East Stroudsburg responded shortly before half time, also taking advantage of a corner. The ball got deflected off of multiple players in the box, before Pieter Neerhof directed the ball into the net with his head in the 44th minute.
In the second half, neither team was able to break through, with just three shots on target combined.
SU had a few breakthroughs but was unable to get shots off at the goal.
With 12 minutes left to play in the game, the game was interrupted for a few minutes due to injury treatment for an SU player. After the game continued, the Raiders seemed to have gained new energy because they played more energetically toward the goal with some chances to score.
Overall, ESU was contesting the ball more, especially in the first half, but Shippensburg fought back in the second half.
The Raiders have an overall record of 3-3-2 now and a PSAC East record of 1-3-1.
The men’s soccer team will travel for the next three matches, starting with its final non-conference matchup against California (Pa.) on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
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