West Chester United overcomes two-goal deficit, wins Hank Steinbrecher Cup on PKs

TUCSON, Ariz. — West Chester United overcame a two-goal deficit at halftime, found a late equalizer in second half stoppage time and prevailed on penalty kicks over Ventura County Fusion to capture the Hank Steinbrecher Cup national championship on Sunday afternoon at Kino North Stadium.

“It was a West Chester win is how I would describe it,” said team captain Kyle Tucker in a phone interview. “We just kept fighting, didn’t give up and got the equalizer with basically the last kick of regulation. It was pretty special.”

West Chester United received an invite to the four-team “champions of champions” tournament as the holders of the USASA Werner Fricker Cup they won in Tennessee last August. They beat USSSA champions Athletico Olanchoa in the semifinal on Saturday 2-0 to advance to the final against the USL League Two champions.

As they did on Saturday, West Chester took an early lead on a goal in the first minute by Dom Bachstein but VC Fusion tied it up on a penalty and after West Chester retook the lead through a goal from Mateo Zazueta the Southern California team scored three unanswered goals before halftime to make it 4-2.

“They were beautiful goals,” head coach Blaise Santangelo said of the goals that put VC Fusion up at halftime. “We went into the locker room down two but we talked about how we had our chances and just had to finish.”

Jackson Gilman, a Philadelphia Union Academy grad who made the College Cup as a freshman at Pitt in the fall, headed in a free kick in the 68th minute from Tucker to make it 4-3. Gilman has been playing this summer with the Union Development Squad in the NPSL but joined the group for the trip.

With time nearly out on their shot at the trophy — named in honor of the National Soccer Hall of Fame member — substitutes Joshua Pulla and Ridge Robinson connected to tie the game at 4-4 in the 91st minute.

“Our bench really made a difference,” Santangelo said. “Ryan Jammes came in around the 60th minute and he was just all over them defensively and attacking the box offensively. Ridge came in and scored the goal to send it to extra time.”

After two overtime periods, the match went to penalties. West Chester keeper Cameron Saunders set the tone with a save on their first kick. The Predators went on to win the shootout 4-2 and capture their first Steinbrecher Cup and the ninth overall since it was started in 2013. They are the first team from Region 1 to win the trophy, which came on the same day another Region 1 team, Newtown Pride FC, won the first The Soccer Tournament 7v7 to capture the $1 million cash prize.

“If you wrote this, nobody would believe it,” Santangelo said. “And everybody, the whole team helped.”

In addition to regulars like Tucker, Saunders and George New, Santangelo’s group was a mix of players from their various summer teams. Jack Jasinski, Sean Bettenhausen and Gilman played together in the Union Academy, Jack Bonas plays at Villanova, Michael Hewes, Mattias Hanchard and Zazueta (who had a goal and an assist) are teammates at Penn. Bachstein and Pulla play together at Drexel.

Tucker, who played with Saunders at Drexel, was able to win the national title with his longtime teammate and his dad, Roger Tucker, who is an assistant coach.

“I don’t know how many trophies we’ve won together when you count states and the regionals and everything,” Kyle Tucker said of his dad. “But obviously it’s always fun to win with him.”

The Tuckers and West Chester won’t get to celebrate their national championship for very long. West Chester’s USL League Two and NPSL squads both have midweek games this week.

“No rest for the weary,” Santangelo said. “We have some big games this week.”

Santangelo said they plan to recognize the club’s latest headline-grabbing accomplishment before their USL League Two game against Ocean City Nor’easters on Tuesday at YSC Sports. West Chester plays Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals at Kildare’s Field in NPSL action on Wednesday.

2023 Hank Steinbrecher Cup Champions. 3rd national title overall. @USLLeagueTwo @NPSLSoccer @USLPA @USASARegion1 pic.twitter.com/iaFZfyM02N

— West Chester United SC (@WCUSCPredators) June 5, 2023

Hank Steinbrecher Cup Winners
2013 – Carolina Dynamo
2014- RWB Adria
2015 – Chattanooga FC
2016 – Chicago Fire U23
2017 – Michigan Bucks
2018 – Michigan Bucks
2019 – Flint City Bucks
2020-2021 – Canceled due to Covid-19 pandemic
2022 – Flint City Bucks
2023 – West Chester United