West ends Unionville’s Cinderella run
DOWNINGTOWN—Fresh off a big upset over Garnet Valley in the first round of the District 1, Class AAA field hockey tournament, No. 22 Unionville came to Kottmeyer Stadium looking to make it two in a row when they squared off against No. 6 Downingtown West, who had a first round bye, in round two. The Indians came out throwing haymakers, and scored in the first two minutes of the game. But West (15-4) responded with six unanswered goals to top Unionville (8-12) by a score of 6-1.
With the win, the Whippets advance to Friday’s quarterfinal round where they will host No. 14 Methacton, who topped third seeded Haverford 2-1 Wednesday night. The game is scheduled for a 3:30 start at Kottmeyer Stadium.
“I’m actually not a big fan of getting the bye,” said West coach Steph Bullock. “Especially when you have to go up against a talented team coming off a big upset win and feeling good about themselves. This is a big win. We played a tough schedule just to get ready for this time of year, and we want to see how far we can go.”
Unionville went after it hard right from the opening whistle, and with a mere 1:17 off the clock, Maura Minter scored unassisted to put the Indians up 1-0.
“I think we were sleeping a little bit at the beginning,” said West’s Ciana Riccardo, who scored a pair of goals on the night. “We were just getting warmed up and getting our bodies going. I think them scoring so quickly like that snapped us out of it and got us going.”
It didn’t take West long to answer back. Not two minutes later, after forcing a couple of penalty corners, JJ Smythe fed Riccardo with a pass, and Riccardo slammed home the first of her two goals.
West would add another pair of goals before halftime, first when Celina Riccardo assisted on an Anna Miller goal, then again when Tatum Johnson picked up an assist on a Smythe goal.
“We knew they were going to come out hard,” said Smythe. “But once we score our first goal, we seem to gain our composure and focus, and just play. It’s really exciting to get this first win under our belt. We have goals, and we’re excited to be moving on.”
The second half was all West. The Whippets notched goals from Smythe, Riccardo and Johnson, and thoroughly dominated possession, with a Unionville trip across midfield into their offensive half so rare, goalie Maddie Ngyuen was not called upon to make a save over the final 56 minutes.
“We tried not to let that first goal disrupt the way we played,” said Bullock. “We made a few adjustments, pressing the ball sooner and trying to keep the ball outside, and using our lanes.”
Though Unionville’s season comes to an end, the Indians can point to a very strong second half of the season as a source of pride, and something to build on next year.
“This is such a great group of girls,” said first-year Indians coach Katie Arnold. “I had no idea what I had back on that first day of preseason when I met the team for the first time. To watch them grow and bond has been really special. We got better every time out, and even though this might not have been the score we wanted, these girls just love playing field hockey and being a part of the Unionville program.”
Unionville 1 0 –1
DTown West 3 3 –6
Goals: Riccardo (2), Smythe (2) , Johnson, Miller
Goalie Saves—Gardiner (UN) 11, Ngyuen (DW) 0
