Shippensburg University’s men’s soccer team went 1-1 this past week, beating West Chester 3-0 on Wednesday before falling to Bloomsburg 3-1 on Saturday. The results move the Raiders to 2-4 on the season, including 1-2 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East play.
Wednesday’s match saw SU look strong in ugly weather conditions, as a consistent mist and fog covered David See Field.
The Raiders started strong though, with senior midfielder Ashton Davies scoring his second goal of the year just two minutes into the match off an assist from junior Luke Kramer.
Davies spoke with SU Sports Info on the impact of that goal postgame, saying, “We knew we needed a goal early… if we could get them flustered and get them out of their rhythm, we knew it would be a huge difference in the game.”
Sophomore Luca Huesser scored the second goal of the match, striking at the 20-minute mark for his second of the season via an assist from redshirt sophomore Clay Waterman to make it 2-0 Shippensburg. This would remain the score at halftime.
The second half was primarily a defensive affair, with no goals until the 84th minute when sophomore Cam Henry earned his first goal of the season with an assist from Huesser.
This made it 3-0 in favor of SU, which would prove to be the final score.
West Chester doubled up SU in shots, having 18 attempts in the match, but the Raider defense held strong. Sophomore goalkeeper Ryan Krumenacker earned his second clean sheet of the season, picking up six saves.
Krumenacker commented on the defense with SU Sports Info. “The ten guys in front of me did a great job to make sure they didn’t get any clear-cut chances,” he said. We set the standard; a clean sheet is always the standard.”
The second game of the week did not go the Raiders’ way, as Bloomsburg turned a 1-0 lead at the half into a 3-1 victory.
The Huskies dominated the possession in the match, outshooting SU 19-3, along with earning a dozen corner kicks.
It was a physical contest, with the two teams combining for 18 fouls and three yellow cards. SU’s lone goal came off a penalty kick in the 88th minute, with redshirt junior Victor Vottero putting the Raiders on the board.
Two more conference games are on the schedule this week for the Raiders, both road matchups. They will travel to Shepherd on Wednesday for a 1 p.m. game before heading to East Stroudsburg on Saturday for a 5 p.m. contest.
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