WESTTOWN – The head coaching position may have changed, but the Great Valley boys’ soccer program is still a force to be reckoned with.
Longtime mentor Dave Moffett stepped down from coaching this summer and handed the reins to his top assistant Bern McCauley for 2025. And the Patriots went out on a dreary Monday evening and blanked division rival West Chester Rustin, on the road, 2-0.
“This program has been great for years,” McCauley said. “My job is to continue that legacy. (Moffett) laid the groundwork for this team. To be here with one more regular season game, we are already firmly in the (district) playoffs, and now we have an excellent chance to get a home playoff game – this is where we wanted to be at the start of the season.”
It was Great Valley’s third straight victory and at 8-1-2 in the Ches-Mont (11-4-2 overall), the Pats are poised once again for a deep postseason run. The squad will host Downingtown East to end the regular season later this week, and have already moved up to eighth in the District 1 4A power rankings. If Great Valley can hold that spot, it would potentially mean two home district games.
“We want to get into the top eight, where we might get two home games,” McCauley said.
“Bern’s been with us for almost as long as (Moffett),” added senior defender Will Granto. “He’s the head coach now and he’s pretty much doing the same things.”
It was a rough evening for the Golden Knights (10-2, 12-4-1), who had lots of trouble turning a slew of scoring chances into goals. But Rustin entered the game having already clinched the C-M American crown for the fifth straight season.
“We are looking at the bigger picture,” Knights’ head coach Ryan Castle said. “We have districts coming up and we can realistically make a nice deep run. I told the boys when they walk off this field, to wipe this game from their minds. One game does not define a season.”
Rustin is second in the District 1 3A power rankings, and a rematch with top-seeded Harriton could be in the cards. The Knights fell to the Rams 2-1 on Sept. 27th.
“We’ve already clinched our side (of the Ches-Mont), and we have bigger goals,” Castle added.
The lone first half goal came off the foot of Granto when a long shot by teammate Reece Bredickas bounced off the hands of Rustin keeper Andrew Hodgkin and went to Granto, who promptly deposited it at the 16:01 mark.
“I knew (Bredickas) was going to shoot the ball because I know him so well,” Granto explained. “It’s rainy conditions, so I knew if I followed it in, it would be bouncing around and it could come out. I was there when it did.”
With the wind at its back in the second half, it looked like Rustin tied the score when a header by Trevor Mosier on a corner was whistled down for a push with 35:35 to go.
“We weathered the storm on the set pieces,” McCauley pointed out. “(Rustin) is a great team over there – one of the favorites in 3A in the districts – but our guys just did their jobs. We work a lot on it and they bought in, doing whatever it takes, even if it is two or three (corners) in a row.”
A few minutes later, the Patriots notched an insurance goal when senior forward Sean Maloney beat Hodgkin to a loose ball and found the back of the net to make it 2-0.
“We gifted (Great Valley) two goals,” Castle said. “When the conditions are like this, you can’t do that.
“It’s a good win for (Great Valley). They finished their opportunities and we didn’t.”
Great Valley goaltender Jhordan Fajardo Castro turned aside all six of the shots on goal he faced, but the shutout wasn’t complete until he made one final diving save on a blast with 4:42 on the clock.
“We had our chances, and (the Patriots’) keeper made some phenomenal saves,” Castle said.
The final tally on corner kicks was shocking. The Knights earned a dozen while preventing the Pats from attempting any. And yet, Rustin failed to take advantage.
“We had the run of play,” Castle said. “We didn’t finish and that’s the name of the game. You don’t win a game just by winning the run of play. You have to execute and finish. It was a tough night.”
Afterward, McCauley praised his team’s defensive effort – particularly Fajardo Castro and the defenders in front of him.
“It was a full team effort,” he said. “Jhordan played a great game for us. He was very focused tonight and he made some huge saves. And our back line did a great job. Mason (O’Connor) and Brian (Zuniga) in the middle seemed to keep everything away and kept us organized.”
Granto added: “(Rustin) had so many chances. But we capitalized on our chances and it kept the momentum for ourselves.
“The clears on all of those corners, we’ve been working on that in practice for so long. And then we would go into a counter attack after that.”
Great Valley had a slim edge in shots on goal (8-6), and it wound up leading to a victory that halted Rustin’s unbeaten streak at five in a row.
“It was a playoff atmosphere and this is the type of team you have to beat in the playoffs,” McCauley said. “We talked about matching (Rustin’s) energy, if not exceeding it. And we did a great job of that in the first 20 minutes.
“At times, (Rustin) had the advantage – I mean 12 corners – but our guys understood this is a playoff game for us.”
Great Valley 2, West Chester Rustin 0
Great Valley 1 1 – 2
W.C. Rustin 0 0 – 0
Great Valley goals: Granto, Mahoney.
Goalie saves: Fajardo Castro (GV) 6; Hodgkin (R) 6.
Source: Berkshire mont
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