VE, West Chester Advance to EPSA Open Cup Final, Will Play for Cup Double

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Breakfast at Bryn Athyn returned with the EPSA Frank Giancroce Open Cup semifinals Sunday morning, and amateur rivals VE and West Chester advanced to face each other in a second cup final this spring.

Vereinigung Erzgebirge came from behind to beat the Ukranian Nationals 2-1 on a late free kick from Aidan Watkins, and West Chester relied on two goals from Troy Amspacher and Ridge Robinson against a shorthanded Westtown FC to win 5-0. The final date and time is yet to be determined due to a congested fixture schedule in the coming weeks. Both teams will square off this Friday night in the Robert O’Neill Amateur Cup final at Bryn Athyn. West Chester, the defending amateur national champion, host USL Championship side Loudon United in the First Round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Match 17th. Both teams will open Region I amateur play on March 22nd with times and locations still being worked out as other associations complete their championships.

VE 2, Ukranian Nationals 1

The teams had barely settled in before the Ukranians jumped on VE in the opening minutes. Forcing a turnover in the VE end, winger Vasyl Khomenko picked out Maksyn Somoilich all alone at the penalty spot, and Somoilich struck an easy roller first-time, beating VE keeper Steve Paul. Maintaining their early momentum, the Ukranians kept plugging away. Several minutes later, Khomenko’s free kick from just outside the box forced Paul to make a fingertip save off the crossbar, and as the VE defenders scrambled, Myroslav Lepuha’s follow up sailed over the goal.

VE responded midway through the half when Reed Sturza charged down the left flank, dropping a pass to Chris Gomez, who bombed a cross to Derek Antonini in the box. But the VE striker’s header lacked the power to beat Ukie keeper Kiernan Webb. Shortly after, Khomenko jumped on a blocked shot that fell perfectly at the top of the box, but he pulled his shot wide and missed the low corner by inches.

The Ukranians absorbed some of VE’s best chances late in the first half as central defender Yuriy Kryskiv corralled Antonini and company on a few dangerous corners, but Pat Murphy’s long throw in bounced through traffic, and Sturza, going away from goal, managed a volley that looped over Webb and hit the top of the crossbar. Minutes from the break, Ukranian striker Moussa Cherif ran onto a deep ball in the right corner, and as his cross veered toward goal, Paul had to backpedal and make a leaping swipe to keep it from the top corner.

With forty-five minutes from a cup final, the Ukranians did their best to maintain their edge, but VE came out in the second half forcing the tempo. Danny Bloyou broke free in the box minutes into the half and fired a low shot from a tight angle that Webb stopped with a reaction kick save. In the 51st minute, VE found an equalizer when Alonso Rodrigues fought off a challenge that may have been called a foul, and followed up Sturza’s shot from the top of the box to tuck the rebound past Webb.

The winner came in the 68th minute. Watkins lined up a free kick from twenty-five yards out that took a deflection off the wall and sent Webb scrambling to keep it out, but the keeper couldn’t get enough of the ball as he pushed it into the side panel.

The job wasn’t done as the Ukranians battled until the end. Though a few calls didn’t go their way late, they pinned VE back with a number of chances but couldn’t force extra time.

“Towards the end of the first half, we knew were starting to come back and gain some momentum,” Watkins said about his team’s comeback. “We knew we were going to get one early, had to get one early, and we did.”

West Chester 5, Westtown FC 0

Playing on two days’ rest after rolling over Lighthouse BC 13-0 Friday night in quarterfinal action, West Chester faced some stiffer competition from upstart Westtown FC, who contained the multi-faceted West Chester attack in the game’s early moments. The game’s best chances came from set pieces as West Chester’s Owen Slack had a free kick that beat the wall but not Westtown keeper Jordan Keller. Then West Chester’s Brian McDaid got on the end of a corner, but his header glanced off the top of the crossbar. Three minutes later, Amspacher’s header off another corner fell to Keller.

The deciding moment in the game came in the 23rd minute when Westtown central defender Zuri Stephens got on the wrong side of Robinson and pulled the West Chester striker down on his way to goal. Stephens received a straight red for a DOGSO moment, which may have been a bit harsh but certainly deserving of at least a caution.

Following the red card, Amspacher hit the ensuing free kick from the top of the box, finding the top right corner for a 1-0 West Chester lead. Searching for a second, Amspacher got on the end of a corner ten minutes later with a volley headed toward the corner, but Westtown defender Corron Hovington cleared it off the line at the near post. Pounding the Westtown defense with wave after wave of corners, Robinson almost scored his first after Thomas King picked him out at the six, but the striker’s shot trickled wide.

Robinson opened the second half finding the mark after Slack slid a through-ball toward him in stride facing the goal. Robinson beat Keller with a first-touch finish to extend the lead to 2-0. The game became a little more one-sided after West Chester scored their second, and Amspacher found his brace midway through the half when he jumped on another through-ball and dribbled Keller before slotting the ball into the open net. Less than two minutes later, Amspacher ran onto another through-ball with a hat-trick in his sights, but Keller denied him with a foot save.

West Chester keeper Tino Kneis went from a clean sheet to the striker position midway through the second half, and wasted no time showing off his goalscoring abilities, finishing off a Marcus Brenes entry pass to push the score to 4-0. Amspacher had two more good looks at goal again on the counter, one that missed the far post by inches, and another stopped by backup keeper Andrew Lihou. West Chester’s relentless pressure paid off again in the closing seconds with Robinson scoring his second.

The win for West Chester revives their spring slate, which includes two league competitions and the potential for three cup runs. The current holders of both EPSA Amateur and Open Cups the past four years are focused on repeating last year’s success.

“It’s important to our club,” Amspacher said after the game. “We’re very competitive. We always want to find ourselves in finals and winning trophies. That’s what we pride ourselves on… we have a good group of guys coming out of winter, so we got to shake off a little rust and clean a couple things up, but we’re looking forward to bringing it all together.”

Amspacher said the team’s prep comes from training and playing a lot, boosting their fitness and spending more time together on the field, but his team also maintains a mindset that didn’t allow them to let up even when the game was in hand.

“You’ve got to be in the moment. You’ve got to be in every game. If you look too far ahead, you can find yourself getting behind or getting loose, but at the same time, we do look at the big picture. So if we’re up one-nothing, that’s still in our standard, not good enough.”

VE and West Chester’s focus will now shift to Friday night’s amateur final, which is a familiar spot. West Chester beat VE in the Open Cup final last spring and eliminated VE from the 2025 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup on the final day of qualifying. West Chester has also edged VE in the last three seasons of the United Soccer League of PA, including four of the last five titles, with the other going to VE. The two teams last met mid-September in USLPA play, with VE winning that game 5-3.

Despite West Chester’s edge in cup competitions, Watkins and his VE teammates are up to the challenge. “They’re our motivation,” he said. “They’re our kryptonite at times and other times we show up and we play really well. We have a solid squad, guys that can play. It’s not like pervious years where we may have been missing a few pieces. We’ve shown plenty of times we can go toe-to-toe with them.”

Amspacher also looks forward to the upcoming games against West Chester’s closest rival. “I’ve been with the club now since 2016, took a break for a while, but VE’s just been one of those clubs that’s been around and been very competitive. I always love to get out against those guys, should be a nice, competitive match, and we know we’re up for it.”

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