The 2025 National Amateur Cup was a game of headers. In total, four of the seven goals came off the head of either a West Chester United SC or RWB Adria player. Of course, deep in stoppage time, a header was the deciding score.
In the 120th minute, moments away from going to penalty kicks, defender Joseph McDaid got under a simple cross from Dylan Lacy in the box, sending the ball into the back of the net and giving West Chester the 4-3 win and its first-ever National Amateur Cup championship.
The win marked the first Amateur Cup win by a team from Eastern Pennsylvania since Philadelphia Inter won it back-to-back in both 1973 and 1974.
The win also qualifies West Chester for the 2026 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup. The team has now qualified for seven tournaments as an organization. It has also accomplished a rare feat by qualifying for America’s national championship in four different ways; As an NPSL team (2024), as a USL League Two team (2022), through local qualifying (2016, 2019, 2023, 2025), and now through the National Amateur Cup (2026).
West Chester head coach Blaise Santangelo couldn’t be more proud of his group, who grinded through a USASA Region I gauntlet to reach the Championship game for the first time in seven years.
“This is the one we’ve been chasing since 2018. The “Holy Grail” of amateur soccer trophies,” Santangelo said. “A storybook finish after 120+ minutes is the thing that movies are made of. A tremendous group of players, coaches, & staff! The opportunity to bring the cup back to Philly after 50+ years is amazing.”
The game at Uihlein Soccer Park in Milwaukee, Wis. was the second in two days for both West Chester and RWB. Both teams won tight semifinal matches on Friday night, meaning their match in the Stadium wasn’t going to be at full strength.
RWB entered the game seeking both a third National Amateur Cup and also revenge. The last time these two teams met was in the 2015 Werner Fricker Amateur Open Cup Final, which West Chester won to secure its first-ever national championship.
West Chester got on the board first in the 11th minute. A play in the box saw Ridge Robinson play around the left side before getting near the end line and shooting toward the keeper. That shot was blocked, but Robinson extended a leg to pass off to Josh Luchini who sent a left footed shot into the back of the net.
RWB, playing only a few hours away from their home of Chicago, did not go away. The team, missing two players and their head coach due to red cards earned in the semifinal against Say Word FC, held off the West Chester attack for the remainder of the first half.
The equalizer came against the run of play when a long ball to Jesus Dani Mendoza on the right side allowed the midfielder to send a low ball into the box. Among the chaos, Victor Manon slid on the ball to put a shot on target and make it 1-1.
West Chester struggled to adapt to this and ten minutes later Manon struck again. A corner kick sent into the box by Jesus Dani Mendoza saw Manon jump up and head a shot into the back of the net to make it 2-1 just before halftime.
Manon, a former Mexican professional player who has won the CONCACAF Champions Cup on three occasions with CF Pachuca, looked to add the crown jewel of the USASA to his trophy cabinet.
Following halftime, United responded nearly immediately. In the 47th minute, a ball into the box was deflected by an RWB player and heading to the end line. The Adria keeper ran to punch it away, keeping it in play and preventing a corner kick. But with ample space on the left side West Chester recovered and sent the ball back into the box, where former Philadelphia Union II and current Princeton University midfielder Jack Jasinski headed in the equalizer.
The side from Pennsylvania nearly went ahead a few minutes later when a trip in the box sent Dylan Lacy to the spot, where his penalty kick attempt was easily saved in the 52nd minute.
From this point, the game entered a lull in action as both teams tried to regain momentum. Fog began to roll over the field from nearby Lake Michigan as the humid temperatures began sending players down with cramps. Mixed in were both teams going to ground, either trying to stop play for a breather or looking for an advantageous call.
Following an RWB Adria player being helped off the field with injury in the 70th minute, West Chester began to attack once again. The United Soccer League of Pennsylvania side earned a free kick in the 74th minute about 40 yards out from net. The ball was sent into the area by Dylan Lacy and headed into the left side of the net by defender Giuliano Whitchurch to give West Chester a 3-2 lead.
With time winding out, RWB looked for ways to challenge West Chester keeper August Axtman. A long shot forced the keeper into a diving two-handed save in the 81st minute and West Chester desperately tried to hold the ball to run out the clock. With five minutes of stoppage time, RWB’s run looked over until a West Chester player committed a foul which led to a free kick in the Chicago team’s end. With only seconds remaining, the ball ran up the left side of the field, playing into the middle of the box before heading toward Manon near the right post. With his back to goal, he backheeled a no-look shot by Aaron Sandoval into the net to equalize at the death, about six minutes into stoppage time.
Both teams were level at the end of regulation, meaning at least 30 minutes of extra time and potentially penalty kicks would be needed to crown a champion.
“It was very upsetting to give up a goal in added time of 90+ minutes. We thought we had it closed up and they kept coming at us,” Santangelo said. “To (RWB’s) credit they never gave up.”
The first half of extra time came and went without much action. In the second extra time half, both teams exchanged set-piece attempts in one-another’s ends looking for the go-ahead. West Chester looked to have won the game in the 119th minute when a long ball sailed over a RWB defender’s head and came to Dylan Lacy on the right side. He played the ball into the box, saw a West Chester shot saved, before also seeing the rebound attempt slam off the crossbar.
On the ensuing corner kick, RWB failed to clear the ball, eventually leading to another ball into the box. This time, Columbia University defender Joseph McDaid lifted his head up and redirected the ball in for the national championship winning goal in the 120th minute of extra time.
West Chester United held on through the remaining stoppage time to claim its first-ever National Amateur Cup. Its something Santangelo and his group knows means something to an area rich with soccer history.
“Having the opportunity to change current day soccer in Philadelphia is a tribute to all of those over the last 101 years that have played this game in an our great city,” he said. “Surely an inspiration for our club and other clubs for the future! A ride of a lifetime!”
MATCH BROADCAST
SATURDAY, JULY 26
RWB Adria (IL, Region II)
3:4
West Chester United SC (PA, Region I)
After Extra Time
Stadium at Uihlein Soccer Park – Milwaukee, WI
Goal scorers
RWB
- Victor Manon 34′, 44′, 90+6
WCU
- Josh Luchini 11′ (Ridge Robinson)
- Jack Jasinski 47′
- Giuliano Whitchurch 75′ (Dylan Lacy)
- Joseph McDaid 120′ (Dylan Lacy)
