Shippensburg University’s men’s soccer team faced off against the East Stroudsburg University Warriors on Saturday afternoon at David See Field after honoring their five seniors in a traditional pre-game ceremony.

Seniors Luke Witham, Clay Waterman, Victor Vottero, Ashton Davies and Andrew Versis were joined by their families in the center of the field to be honored. 

The mens’ messages to their families, coaches and teammates were read out to the audience while head coach Jeremy Spering handed each of the players a poster of them playing. Both Witham and Waterman’s ceremonies included the reading of messages sent from their families back in England, Witham being from Leicester and Waterman from London. 

The first half started with momentum that was present on both sides of the turf as opportunities came out of nowhere within the first five minutes. Sophomore Cam Henry shot on goal in the third minute of play to be blocked by the Warriors goalkeeper. Victor Vottero nearly made it 1-0 with his follow-up shot that floated just above the crossbar. 

The half continued to run with opportunities from both the Raiders and the Warriors. With less than seven minutes to the first half, ESU player Nathan Bradway shot an awkwardly bouncing ball at SU goalkeeper Ryan Krumenacker, knocking him off balance and unable to make the save. 

The halftime whistle was blown and the men were given some relief to regroup with their teams as the score was now 1-0 to the Warriors.

When the second half began, the first 10 minutes consisted of back and forth play until an opportunity arose on the Raider’s offensive half. A free kick was given and served into the box by senior Ashton Davies onto the head of Cam Henry whose shot veered just wide of the goal post to go out for an ESU goal kick. 

Twenty-three minutes into the half, ESU player Jace Seara used some footwork to beat SU defenders and scored another goal to add to the Warriors lead. Less than five minutes later, an ESU player got a breakaway, forcing Krumenacker to make a crucial save with his feet. The resulting 50/50 ball in the box caused Krumenacker to clip the foot of the ESU forward as the referee awarded a controversial penalty kick to the Warriors. Cayetano Diaz lined up to take the kick and slotted it into the goal to make the score 3-0. 

Within a short span of minutes, disaster struck for the Raiders. Continuing to advance towards goal with energy, the Raiders were determined to make the game as competitive for ESU as possible. With only 10 minutes left, Shippensburg’s Vottero launched the ball into their offensive box off a throw-in and Luca Heusser flicked the ball off his head into the back of the net. Having a point on the board, the Raiders hurried to restart play as the clock kept ticking. 

A minute later, a SU mistake in the back led to another goal for ESU, after the ball was mishit into the path of Connor Hanratty, making it 4-1. Both teams played a physical match, accumulating three yellow cards per side. With an unfortunate result for the Raiders, Senior Day was still a success in that the seniors have achieved successful academic and athletic careers in their time with SU soccer. 

Andrew Versis said “it was a day for me to look back on the journey I’ve taken to get to this point I’m at now, and to be appreciative of all the people that have helped me get this far.” 

Ashton Davies added to this by saying he is “very grateful to have had the opportunity to play soccer at a high level with great friends.” 

The men have a 1-8-0 record in their conference this year and have fallen short in several of their previous games, but their effort and performance does not go unseen as they persist and play their hearts out in every game to finish out their season, and for many of the seniors, their careers.

Senior Victor Vottero emphasized this point in saying, “It was a great feeling to see the support that us seniors got from our teammates, coaches, and family and friends. I really wanted to take in the experience because it is something that only happens once in a lifetime. The result today wasn’t what we wanted, but the day was special regardless of the result.” 

The men will appear again on Friday, Nov. 8, for their final match of the 2024 season against Shepherd on David See Field at 6 p.m. 

Share