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West Chester United and VE advance in U.S. Open Cup qualifying

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Ridge Robinson congratulates Ayoub Mouhou after his first half goal for West Chester United in a 6-1 win over Ukrainian Nationals in U.S. Open Cup qualifying | Photo by Matthew Ralph

A dominant first half performance and a second half comeback propelled West Chester United and Vereinigung Erzgebirge into the fourth round of local qualifying for the 2025 U.S. Open Cup.

West Chester United hosted the Philadelphia Ukrainian Nationals while VE visited Kensington SC at Holy Family on Saturday night. Lancaster-based club Alloy SC traveled to New Jersey to face New Jersey Alliance but were on the wrong side of a lopsided 6-1 score line.

West Chester put Ukies under pressure early and connected on a first goal with captain Ridge Robinson in the box off a back heel from Josh Luchini and the Predators had a chance to double the lead minutes later when a foul was called in the box. But Ukies keeper Ivan Melnyk stepped up to make the first of several big stops on the night to keep his side in it with a diving save to his right.

West Chester continued to turn up the pressure with Thomas King running at defenders and right back Brian McDaid pushing down the flank. Mason Miller combined with Robinson in the box to double the lead after King and Luchini cut through the defense. Ascoli then made it 3-0 with a shot from distance and Ayoub Mouhou megged the keeper to make it 4-0 going into halftime.

The Ukies found their footing in the second half and started to see more of the ball but Robinson iced the game with his second of the night and substitute Luca Mellor added a sixth after Vasyl Khomenko put the visitors on the board.

Over at Holy Family, Kensington SC got out in front 2-0 on VE but the 2024 U.S. Open Cup local qualifiers stormed back and were able to win the game 4-2 to keep alive their chance of repeating as local qualifiers. West Chester United qualified for the 2024 U.S. Open Cup “proper” via their 2023 performance in the NPSL.

Matthew Ralph is the managing editor of Philadelphia Soccer Now / Brotherly Game. He's covered soccer at all levels for many years in the Philadelphia region and has also written for TheCup.us, NPSL, PrepSoccer and other publications. He lives with his wife and two young children in Broomall, Pa., but grew up in South Jersey and is originally from Kansas.

Copyright © 2024 Philadelphia Soccer Now and Brotherly Game

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