WAYNESBURG, Pa. (Oct. 28) – The last time the Waynesburg University men's soccer team faced off with Chatham, the Yellow Jackets earned a 3-1 victory over the Cougars on Sept. 23. Since then, Chatham had put together a 4-1-2 record over seven games.
On Saturday, the two teams met up again at John F. Wiley Stadium, but with much higher stakes. The two squads squared off in a quarterfinal match of the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) as the fourth-seeded Jackets played host to the fifth-seeded Cougars. Once again, it was the Jackets who came out on top, this time downing the visitors 4-1.
Waynesburg (10-6-2) controlled the first half, outshooting Chatham (6-9-3) 11-6 and attempting four corner kicks, while the Cougars didn't make it to the corner flags. Those statistical advantages manifested themselves as three goals in the first 34:40.
Freshman
Zachary Johnson (Raceland, Ky. / St. Joseph Central Catholic) got things going with his 11
th goal of the season in the 12
th minute. Freshman
Vincent Palmeri (Edgewater, Md. / The Key School) picked up the assist on the tally.
Waynesburg got the eventual game-winning tally early in the 25
th minute when Palmeri set up Johnson for the second time of the night. Not only was it Johnson's team-leading 12
th goal of the year, but it was his conference-leading fifth game winner of 2023.
Sophomore
Nick Bryan (Olathe, Kansas / Blue Valley Southwest) picked a great time to log his first collegiate goal, which came with just 10:20 left to play in the half.
The Jackets were able to maintain their three-goal advantage as the first half came to an end.
Chatham trimmed its deficit down to two goals with a tally in the 59
th minute, but Waynesburg was able to rebuild its three-goal advantage midway through the 72
nd minute. Graduate student
Samuel Hawkins (Great Mills, Md. / Great Mills) set up junior
Connor Jacobs (Waynesboro, Pa. / Waynesboro) for the final goal of the night.
The Jackets' eighth game of three goals or more provided plenty of support for junior
Michael Francus (Bethel Park, Pa. / Bethel Park), who earned the victory in goal after posting four saves over 90 minutes of work.
With the victory, Waynesburg advances into the semifinals of the PAC tournament, where it will square off with top-seeded Geneva on Wednesday, Nov. 1, in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. The two teams faced off just three days ago on the Golden Tornadoes' home field in a game that ended in a 3-3 tie that gave the Jackets the number-four seed and Saturday's home game.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
