Recent History in Regional Finals
Shepherd is in the regional final for the fourth time since 2006. All four appearances have matched the Rams with a PSAC opponent. Shepherd lost at home to Bloomsburg in 2006 and at California in 2007. In 2010, the Rams thumped PSAC Champ Mercyhurst on a cold day in Erie to win the region an advance to the semis. West Chester is in the regional final for the first time since 2004. The Rams defeated East Stroudsburg that year in a thrilling 48-38 game at ESU.



West Chester Golden Rams (12-1)
At
Shepherd Rams (11-0)


Initial thoughts

It certainly is an interesting match up. Both teams are pretty well rounded, with Shepherd having the better defense and West Chester having the better offense. West Chester has scored fewer than 30 points only twice this year. Their season low was 22 in a sloppy performance against winless (at the time) Kutztown. Shepherd has given up more than 20 points to just two opponents this year, with a season-worst of 33 at Concord in the regular season finale. They have three shutouts this season and two of them were over very offensively savvy teams (Shippensburg, Winston-Salem State).

Before we dive into the analysis, here is a look at the stat match-up:

The PSAC SlantFinal analysisThe MEC SlantThe Pick