West Chester United is the Eastern Pennsylvania Open Cup champion for the second year in a row after beating United German Hungarians 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. UGH scored first, but West Chester equalized just before the half and used the extremely windy weather conditions to its advantage to pull away in the end.

“The guys played really, really well. The wind was a huge factor. In the second half…I think the elements actually helped us with the wind going our way a little bit,” West Chester manager Vincent D’Ambrosio said after the game.

The two-time Open Cup runners-up, UGH, had the wind advantage in the first half, and used it to control the early part of the game. The visitors capitalized in the 17th minute when Elsion Pajolarri was taken down just inside the box. Pajolarri sent the keeper the wrong way on the ensuing penalty to put the Hungarians up 1-0. Pajolarri then had to be subbed out after picking up an injury just three minutes later.

From that point on in the first half, neither side had a definitive advantage. However, just as the half was coming to a close, West Chester nabbed an equalizer. A long ball that was popped up high into the air came down perfectly for West Chester’s Dominic Popolizio, who then outran the defense and slotted the ball past the keeper.

“They’re back breakers when things like that happen,” UGH coach Mike Curley said. “At halftime I tried to give a pep talk because as we walked off the field, our heads were down. It’s tough to come back from a goal like that. That hurt.”

West Chester used that momentum, plus the wind advantage, to score early in the second half. In the 52nd minute, Popolizio ran into the penalty area and passed the ball across the 6-yard box to an onrushing Michael Lodge, who calmly hit it home. UGH had no answer for West Chester’s play in the second half, and ended up finding themselves down 3-1 in the 80th minute. At the top of the box, Lodge found David King, who ran deep inside the area. Bearing down on the keeper, he passed to substitute Scott Patrick for the game’s final goal.

With the victory, West Chester United advance to the USASA Region I Finals in the spring. Last year, United fell in the first round to Dulles Sportsplex Aegean Hawks.