Surging Downingtown West advances, ends ‘Stoga’s season

TREDYFFRIN – When Downingtown West stunned Conestoga 4-1 in round two of the District 1 4A Boys Soccer Tournament Thursday, it certainly felt like a monumental upset. But upon a further look, it really wasn’t all that shocking, at least according to the head coaches for both sides.

Whippets’ head coach Joe Sales put together a brutally difficult schedule, and despite some early setbacks, West now sure looks like a team that is peaking at the right time.

“We’ve played the best teams to figure out what to do in the playoffs,” he said. “This is a big win, but it’s just one game. I don’t think we’ve beaten Conestoga in the last 10 years. Obviously, they have a great program and we respect them.

“I told the kids they can enjoy it tonight and (Friday) for the first two periods of school. But at the end of the day, if we don’t win the next one, our season will be over. We want to try to go as far as we can. And I firmly believe, with the season we’ve had, and the group we have, we can compete with the best.”

With the win, the 15th-seeded Whippets (12-7-1 overall) handed the second-seeded Pioneers (12-2-4) their second loss and ended their season.

“I was talking to the team (Wednesday) about Downingtown West,” ’Stoga head coach Dave Zimmerman explained. “They started the season 3-6-1 and scored eight goals in those 10 games. And they finished 8-1 and scored 39 goals.

“So they are a hot team, and that’s not who you want to play coming into an elimination game in the playoffs. The 15th seed was not an accurate reflection of the way they are playing.”

In 24 seasons at the helm, Zimmerman’s teams have captured five state championships, with the last coming in 2023, which capped an unbeaten campaign and a No. 2 ranking in the nation. For Downingtown West, it marks the first time the program has advanced to the district quarterfinals in a decade.

“It puts our team in the record books,” said Whippets’ goaltender Chase Cicero.

“This is huge. Some may think it was totally unexpected, but we felt it coming. We are on a roll. We’re scoring lots of goals and defending well.”

West will be back on the road to take on either No. 7 Abington or No. 10 Central Bucks South in the quarterfinal round on Saturday. The Whippets – who have now won seven straight – dropped a regular season clash with Conestoga on Sept. 25th by a score of 2-1.

“Our strength of schedule made us tougher and we are more connected as a team,” said junior Aiden Benner, who scored twice on Thursday. “Today, everybody played together, and that’s what we had to do.

“We had to step up when it mattered most. Now we have to keep doing it.”

Downingtown West seemed to have a jump in its step in the first half, and it all coalesced in a 97-second stretch when the Whippets scored twice to open a 2-0 lead. Both goals happened in the run of play, with Benner heading it in on a centering pass from teammate Alex Shearer. Moments later, Shearer got behind the ’Stoga defense and his shot got past Pioneers’ keeper Ryan McLean with 13 minutes on the clock.

“It was pretty electric to start the game off like we did,” said Benner, who has been coming off the bench for most of the season for West.

“I was obviously very concerned at 2-0,” Zimmerman acknowledged. “We had a bit of a defensive lapse there, and you can’t afford to do that because then we are chasing to get back into it.”

With pressure already mounting, Conestoga sliced the deficit in half when junior midfielder Danny Poltaraus found the back of the net off a free kick from 40-plus yards out by Elgin Harbaugh with 6:40 to go.

“If we would have lost, we would have been out,” Benner said. “But this team came together near the end of the regular season. This outcome is a good sign, but we will have to see where this takes us.”

The Pioneers began the second half with much more energy and senior Max Ryan nearly tied the score less than two minutes in, but his shot bounced off the near post. And then, with just less than 32 minutes on the clock, Poltaraus came within inches of converting a corner kick.

But the Whippets weathered the storm. And four minutes after notching its first shot on goal of the second half, Benner struck again, heading in another pass by Shearer to make it 3-1 with 17:55 to go.

“The third goal let our guys breathe a little bit and settle down,” Sales said.

“That third goal was deadly,” Zimmerman added. “We couldn’t afford to give that one up.”

In the biggest game of the season, Benner and Shearer teamed up to account for West’s first three goals.

“Those guys have pace, they read the game well, and when the ball falls to them, we are fortunate they are on this team,” Sales said.

“Coming off the bench is just my role,” Benner added. “I know my teammates trust me.”

It wasn’t over just yet, however. ’Stoga’s Ben Frischmann had a header sail just over the crossbar with 14:58 remaining, and the Pioneers had two additional corner kick opportunities down the stretch without scoring. The final dagger came with 3:30 on the clock, when yet another junior, Nolan Russell, let loose a 30-yard plus lazer that found the upper right corner of the goal to give the Whippets an insurmountable 4-1 advantage.

“Sometimes you just have to take your hat off to your opponent,” Zimmerman said. “That last goal they scored was a screamer from distance.

“(Downingtown West) is not a team you can sleep on, and we didn’t. I mean they beat Spring-Ford 5-0 in round one. They are averaging over four goals per game in their last 10.”

And with Cicero in goal, the Whippets defense held off a potent Conestoga attack without an answer for the final 46-plus minutes of action.

“We’ve grown a lot,” said Cicero, who finished with 13 saves. “The really tough schedule prepared us for games like this.

“We are a team to look out for.”

The Pioneers had a negligible edge in corners (6-5), but West wound up with a 16-14 advantage in shots on goal.

“We work on being gritty, running through the ball, going hard for everything,” Benner said.

For Conestoga, it was a bitter end to a season that held so much promise. The Pioneers have been such an iconic program for so long, they have a bullseye on their backs and routinely have to take the best shot of everybody they face.

“This is not the first time we’ve missed states and it probably won’t be the last time either,” Zimmerman said.

“It comes with the territory. These first games in the district are always tough. Being the higher seed, there is a little more pressure, and you never really know how you’re going to perform until you get into these situations.”

Downingtown West 4, Conestoga 1

Downingtown West 2 2 – 4

Conestoga 1 0 – 1

Downingtown West goals: Benner 2, Shearer.

Conestoga goal: Poltaraus.

Goalie saves: Cicero (DW) 13; McLean (C) 12.

Source: Berkshire mont