West Chester Rustin upsets Abington in District 1-3A 2nd round
ABINGTON >> With only a few seconds left in the first half, West Chester Rustin’s Emily Supplee was left with a single option — head straight for the goal.
“I basically thought ‘This is it,’,” she said .”Gave it all I had and it went in.”
Getting the ball off a draw that came with eight seconds remaining before the break, Supplee dashed down the field and fire a shot that found the back of the net right as the buzzer sounded — the Golden Knights capping the opening half with two goals in the final eight seconds to lead Abington 7-5.
“It was a great feeling, we were up,” Supplee said. “I just felt we had to go in the second half the same way.”
Rustin carried the strong finish into the start of the second half, pushing its lead to 9-5 in the first five minutes and domination possession the rest of the contest as the 12th-seeded Knights knocked off the fifth-seeded Ghosts 10-6 in the District 1-3A second round Thursday night at Schwarzman Stadium.
“They did a great job at stalling right from the second half and we just couldn’t get it back,” Abington coach Mary Liz Klepper said. “We couldn’t get possession and possession win the game and they definitely beat us on that.”
Ashley Chisholm scored three of her game-high four goals in the first half and also had an assist for the Golden Knights (16-3), who advance to the district quarterfinals for the first time since 2017. Supplee added two goals and assist while Katie Stubits scored twice.
“It’s incredible,” Supplee said. “It’s one of the greatest feelings. We came out strong. We did it and it was great.”
Rustin visits fourth-seeded Downingtown West — which beat No. 20 Kennett 15-6 — Saturday with the winner clinching a PIAA berth. The Ches-Mont rivals met on April 25 with the Whippets besting the Knights 11-8.
“I think we have to work hard through the whole game,” said Supplee of facing West. “I think we kind of got down at the beginning the time before we played them.”
Abby Thomas and Grace Hinkle both scored two goals while Jamira Mashore finished with three assists for Abington, the Suburban One League National Conference champs ending their season at 15-4.
“It’s a bummer, honestly. I mean, I don’t know what else to say,” Klepper said.”I wanted to make it all through next week. But no.”
Trailing 5-4 in the first half, Chisholm pulled the Golden Knights level with her third goal of the night at 5:04. Abington came close to regaining the lead in the final minute but had a shot hit the crossbar with Rustin getting to the rebound and racing down the field with Stubits earning an eight-meter shot, which she scored on with eight seconds left. Supplee then darted to the goal off the Rustin draw win to score her buzzer-beater.
“I think our mindset was just stay composed, work hard the whole game and I think we did that,” Supplee said.
The Golden Knights proceeded to stretch its run to 5-0 with the first two goals after halftime — Stubits scoring at 22:27 with Chisholm tallying her fourth on an eight-meter shot at 20:46 for a 9-5 advantage.
Hinkle cut the Ghosts’ deficit to three 44 seconds later off a Mashore helper. But the problem for Abington was just gaining possession away from the Golden Knights in the second half. Playing with the lead, Rustin worked patiently on offense and took large chunks of time off the clock. Abington’s defense and its goalkeeper Ellie Hughes were solid but could not find away to get out of their own end with Rustin backing up shots and corralling loose balls.
“It’s pretty hard but it’s mainly just composure,” Supplee said. “And keeping control of the ball.”
Hinkle’s goal proved to be the final one for the Ghosts, who were denied on a few times by Rustin goalkeeper Kate Ricciuti on the opportunities Abington did get on offense after halftime. With 27 second left in regulation, Grace Plona scored to give the Golden Knights a 10-6 lead.
“They did a great job of holding possession and we had a bunch of girls, that’s tiring to defend that stall for almost 16 minutes,” Klepper said. “And it just wasn’t falling our way the second half.”
The teams traded runs in the first half, starting with Abington jumping out to a 2-0 lead at 21:03 on goals from Thomas and Sam Simon. Rustin responded with the next four goals, the first two from Chisholm. Shannon Drakely’s strike gave the Golden Knights their first lead 3-2 at 13:52 while 42 seconds later Chisholm connected with Supplee to extended the margin to 4-2.
Abington, however, went back ahead thanks to a 3-0 run. Hinkle cutting it to 4-3 off a Mashore assist at 12:25 while Thomas’ goal on an eight-meter shot knotting things at four. Kaley Ehnow gave the Ghosts their last lead when Mashore found her to make it 5-4 at 5:04.
(12) West Chester Rustin 10, (5) Abington 6
West Chester Rustin 7 3 — 10
Abington 5 1 — 6
West Chester Rustin Goals-Assists: Ashley Chisholm 4-1; Emily Supplee 2-1; Katie Stubits 2-0; Shannon Drakely 1-0; Grace Plona 1-0.
Abington Goals-Assists: Grace Hinkle 2-0; Abby Thomas 2-0; Kaley Ehnow 1-1; Sam Simon 1-0; Jamira Mashore 0-3.
Saves: Ellie Hughes (A) 15; Kate Ricciuti (WCR) 8.
