WESTTOWN – In a rare rematch of the regular season finale just five days earlier, West Chester Rustin outlasted visiting Strath Haven 2-1 in round one of the District 1 3A Boys Soccer Playoffs to advance to the semifinals.
If that sounds a bit familiar, it should. The Golden Knights edged the Panthers by a single goal on the same field on Oct. 17. And even though it was similar, neither head coach thought the scenario favored either side.
“It’s hard to beat a team twice, let alone twice in five days, but it’s always going to be a challenge at this stage of the season,” said Rustin head coach Ryan Castle.
“It’s strange playing back-to-back,” added Strath Haven head coach Ryan O’Neill, “but I don’t think it played too much into the outcome tonight.”
Now 14-4-1 overall, the second-seeded Knights will host No. 3 Lower Moreland on Monday. The winner will likely face top-seeded Harriton in the final on Oct. 29.
“Going in, we knew the task at hand,” said Rustin senior Jackson Hutsell. “If we wanted to win this, we had to have as much energy as possible to beat (Strath Haven) again.”
The 2025 season is now over for Strath Haven, who was seeded seventh and finished with an 8-10 overall mark despite playing in the brutally difficult Central League.
“Our guys kept fighting, but that’s been this team all season,” O’Neill said. “We’ve seen a lot of quality teams this season and we’ve kept it close with chances to win just about all of them.”
The Rustin victory exorcised some demons from exactly a year ago, where the second-seeded Knights fell in the first round of the districts to Marple Newtown, another Central League foe.
“The big thing coming into this season was that we definitely could not repeat what happened last year,” Hutsell said.
“We were here last season and dropped a very tough game to Marple Newtown in another two versus seven, so we had that in our minds,” Castle added. “We’ve been thinking about that for 10 months. So I am extremely proud for this group to get over that hump, that little mental hurdle.”
Nursing a 1-0 lead halftime lead, the Knights doubled their advantage when senior forward Cole Turner scored in transition following an unsuccessful corner kick by Strath Haven with 26:35 remaining. Hutsell delivered the pass to Turner, and Panthers’ keeper Tyler Mickelberg dove to get a piece of Turner’s blast, but not enough to prevent it from going in.
“That happens,” O’Neill pointed out. “(The corner kick) was a goal scoring opportunity so you have to commit players for it. It was just an unfortunate scenario but you have to take that risk.”
Castle added: “We’ve been on the other end of that. We’ve talked about, in those transition moments, how we have to make quick decisions and make runs off the ball. Jackson picked his head up and found Cole, who cut inside and had a great finish.”
Rustin held a two-goal lead until the Panthers finally ended the shutout on a goal by Nate Goodwin with 2:44 remaining.
“Even though it came with just a few minutes to go, our guy’s mentality is to keep pushing,” O’Neill said.
The lone first half goal came on Rustin’s fourth corner kick in a row in a 15-minute stretch with just over 10 minutes on the clock. Senior defender Brody Dunn delivered the boot and Hutsell headed it in despite having a slew of defenders around him.
“In practice I’ve been memorizing where Brody (Dunn) normally puts the ball (on corner kicks). He did it, I saw it coming, just aimed and got it,” Hutsell recalled.
“Sometimes it’s just a matter of clearing it and gaining some composure,” O’Neill added. “I thought for the 10 minutes prior to that (stretch) we were the aggressor. Sometimes you can feel the momentum shifting back and forth.
“We were pretty strong on restarts and did a good job on most of them. (The goal) was one good ball, but that’s the game nowadays.”
The Knights had a 5-2 advantage on corners and a 9-3 edge in shots on goal.
“We were a little nervous at the end there, but for the most part we did a very good job limiting chances,” Castle said.
“And the beauty of being in 3A, we’ve earned the right to have another home game, and if you win those, it’s a trip to the final.”
Rustin is playing without starting center back Quincy Donnelly, who was injured against Oxford on Oct. 9. But junior Trevor Moser took his place and is living up to the ‘next man up’ mantra.
“Trevor stepped in and is playing very good,” Hutsell said. “He was very composed and that’s good to see.”
West Chester Rustin 2, Strath Haven 1
Strath Haven 0 1 – 1
W.C. Rustin 1 1 – 2
Strath Haven goal: Goodwin.
W.C. Rustin goals: Hutsell, Turner.
Goalie saves: Mickelberg (SH) 7; Hodgkin (R) 2.
Source: Berkshire mont