Luca Mellor and Sama Tima scored goals in each half to lead West Chester United to the National APSL title Sunday afternoon, their second-consecutive league title. The victory over Foro SC capped off a thrilling weekend in which they also won the Transatlantic Cup Friday night over the Arthurian League, a competition that pitted the U.S. amateur champions against the best amateurs from the U.K. Not many teams can make such a claim, in less than forty-eight hours no less, but not many amateur teams have the pedigree of West Chester.
Playing their third game in as many days, West Chester entered the APSL final at Segra Field in Leesburg, Virginia, riding a 46-game league winning streak. But they had to do so without star striker Funsia Donzo, whose red card in extra time in the semifinal the day before tarnished a hat-trick performance that helped his side advance with a 7-6 win on penalties (4-4 AET) over Prima FC.
Luca Mellor put West Chester up in the 12th minute. After a lengthy build up from the back, Owen Slack kept Mellor’s initial cross in play and laid the ball back to Andrew Hilton, who whipped in a cross that Gary Zhang flicked on at the near post. Mellor, normally a center back playing striker, drifted unmarked and met Zhang’s flick with a header that found the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Mellor also scored West Chester’s second goal in the semifinal.
In the 62nd minute, West Chester benefited from a second yellow card caution to Foro defender Surafel Anka, which put the Texas side down a man while chasing the game. Twelve minutes later, Justin Thomas won a corner, and with both teams lagging from a second game within twenty-four hours, West Chester found their chance to put their stamp on the game. Tima headed home Slack’s corner to put the defending champions up 2-0. West Chester then leaned on their experience to see out the remaining minutes and become the second team win back-to-back titles (Nova FC) in the APSL’s six-year history.
West Chester, who also claimed their fourth-straight USLPA title in the spring, rolled through the regular season, topping the Delaware River Conference unbeaten (20-2-0, 62 points) with an impressive +83 goal differential. In the Northeast Regionals, they defeated Oaklyn United 2-0 on two late Donzo goals. Oaklyn finished runners-up in the Delaware River Conference (17-0-5, 51 points) and were a game away from qualifying for the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup back in the late fall. In the regional semifinals, West Chester jumped out to a commanding 4-0 lead over Hoboken FC 1912 (Metropolitan Conference: 14-3-5, 45 points) after two goals from Donzo and one apiece from Zhang and Ayoub Moahou. Hoboken rallied back to cut the deficit to 4-3 before Donzo completed his hat-trick in the final minutes to seal West Chester’s place in the final. West Chester beat Nova FC (Mid Atlantic Conference: 14-0, 42 points). Ridge Robinson scored the opener and after Nova equalized in the 43rd minute, Donzo scored twice in the final twenty minutes to send West Chester back to the national semifinals.
West Chester started the weekend Friday night at Drexel University’s Vidas Field with a much anticipated matchup against the Arthurian League representatives of London. The Arthurian League, a multi-tiered amateur league, was founded in 1961, though many of the clubs date back to the early 1900s when they participated in the Arthur Dunn Cup, an amateur competition held for the Old Boys of the public schools.
West Chester controlled the early moments of the game and had several good looks at goal. Ridge Robinson found Henry Bernstein trailing at the top of the box, but keeper Ollie Bowles got down low to make a strong save. Six minutes later, Marcus Brenes’ free kick from just outside the box nearly snuck into the near post.
Ayoub Moahou put the American side up midway through the half, chasing down a long ball that brought Bowles off his line and out of the penalty area. Mouhou got a touch over Bowles then sent a volley into the open net for the 1-0 lead.
The Arthurian League played their way into the game and almost snuck an equalizer against the run of play late in the first half. Midfielder Alex Nanni got behind the West Chester defense, but Tino Kneis stopped him from point-blank range to keep the lead. Both teams traded traded chances in the closing minutes with Declan Sullivan beating Bowles, who came well outside the box again for a through-ball, but Sullivan pushed the bouncing ball wide of the net. Charlie Kelly posted up a West Chester defender on a long throw in the closing seconds, but his turning volley sailed over the bar.
The second half opened as the first ended, with a flurry of chances. Tomas Ascoli almost doubled the lead when he broke down the left side, but Bowles cut down his angle and made a fine save to keep his team in the game. At the other end, Kelly ran onto a blocked cross and smashed a half volley from a wide angle that hit the top corner of the outside netting.
The Arthurian League found their goal midway through the second. Will Norcross recycled a well-defended cross and laid the ball back to defender Jaiden Fitzpatrick, whose inswinger hit Harry Darnell at the far post. Darnell’s header was blocked in front but the ball fell perfectly to him in front of the goal, and he buried it past Kneis to draw the teams level at 1-1.
West Chester pressed late but also absorbed a ton of pressure off corners and free kicks, and the best chance for the Arhturian league to steal a winner came from Henry Langley off a jumble in front of goal sailed over Kneis’ outstretched hand but landed on the top of the goal.
The game went to penalties, and after Robinson’s opener, Kneis stopped the first strike to put West Chester up. A goal from each side made it 2-1, and Mellor’s attempted Panenka clipped the bar and bounced away, putting the teams back on even footing. With the next two kicks hitting the target and West Chester holding a 3-2 lead, Nanni struck the post, leaving it up to Mouhou to call game, which he did, handing the Transatlantic Cup to the U.S.
