KENNETT SQUARE – Already safely into the district playoffs, the Downingtown West boys’ soccer squad needed Wednesday’s regular season finale at Kennett for a number of important reasons.
It took more than 70 minutes of soccer for the Whippets to take their first lead, but it stood up in a 3-2 gut-check victory for West. Now 9-2-1 in the Ches-Mont and 10-7-1 overall, the Whippets head into next week’s District 1 4A Tournament with the momentum of a five-game winning streak. And it looks like the big finish was enough to secure a top-15 seed and a first-round home game for West.
“Getting a home game is huge for the playoffs,” said Whippets’ head coach Joe Sales. “We did what we had to do. But at this point of the season, you are only guaranteed one more game.”
Heading in, the Blue Demons (3-8-1, 7-10-1) were 32nd in the district power rankings. And with only the top 28 making the field, Kennett had to win on Wednesday and hope for some help. That, of course, did not happen. It certainly didn’t help that the Demons dropped their final four.
“We knew the situation and we knew it was going to be a challenge,” said Demons’ head coach Kevin Lentz. “West is a good team. What it comes down to is the games we should have won this season, we didn’t, so it put us in a situation where we had to beat a team like Downingtown West.”
Locked in a 2-2 tie deep into the second half, Whippets’ junior Nolan Russell got his head on a corner kick that wound up being the game-winner. It happened with 9:13 on the clock and it came off of a boot by senior Alex Shearer.
“I’ve been told to go in and be a difference maker, so I was going to be as aggressive as I could,” Russell recalled. “I honestly don’t know how I got to it – there was a (defender) on every side of me. I just jumped as high as I could and got my head on it.”
It was an uphill battle for West most of the way. In the opening minutes of the second half, following an intense halftime chat, Shearer scored to make it 1-1.
“We were playing really lazy in the first half and our coach really dug into us,” Russell confirmed. “We were not aggressive.”
About 10 minutes later, however, Kennett regained the lead when senior midfielder Morgan Pelletier converted a throw-in from Coleman Riblett. But less than a minute later, West’s senior Evan Gross tied it up again following a scramble in front of the Demon’s goal.
“The guys know we don’t have a roll over mentality,” Sales said. “We have been in every match this season. They know we can compete, so it’s just a matter of everybody being on the same page and giving 100 percent.”
For the match, the Whippets had a 6-4 advantage on corner kicks, but it was 4-2 in the critical second half.
“Against a team (like West) that has the kind of height we don’t, allowing corners and free kicks is putting ourselves in a difficult situation,” Lentz pointed out.
“We also got a little panicky once we were ahead. Instead of playing good possession ball, we tended to just try to play kick-and-run. But that is not our game, we are more of a possession-based team.”
The lone goal of the opening half happened with 7:42 on the clock when Kennett’s Manny Rodriguez Martinez converted a free kick from the midfield by teammate Ricky Calderon.
“We came out a little flat,” Sales acknowledged, “not getting to the 50-50 balls, not having the fight we need going into the playoffs. It was a big difference in the second half.
“We had a few bad circumstances in the second half, we made up for it by being on the front foot more and being more aggressive. We had subs come in and worked their (tails) off.”
The Whippets wound up with a 10-5 edge in shots on goal. In mid-September, West suffered through a five-game losing skid against a very tough slate and were 3-6-1. But over the course of the final eight matches, the Whippets won seven times.
“We were on quite a bit of a slide in the tough part of our season,” Sales said.
“But we’ve already played six of the top 10 teams in the district and we’ve played them close – so we know we can compete.”
For Kennett, the final game was a microcosm of the entire season. The Demons were close, but not quite good enough.
“Some fluky things have happened,” Lentz said. “(West) put a corner kick into a good area and it sort of skipped in for the winner. That was a lot like our season went.”
Downingtown West 3, Kennett 2
Downingtown West 0 3 – 3
Kennett 1 1 – 2
Downingtown West goals: Shearer, Gross, Russell.
Kennett goals: Rodriguez Martinez, Pelletier.
Goalie saves: Cicero (DW) 3; Teixeira (K) 7.
Source: Berkshire mont
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