D-West downs Spring-Ford in well-rounded effort

Downingtown >> Downingtown West sophomore sensation Bret Bergey, who scored six goals in his team’s resounding 15-4 win against 12th-seeded Spring-Ford in its District 1 3A opener, reflected on the Whippets’ powerful performance at DiSerafino Stadium Thursday evening.

“We moved the ball around great on offense; we got [Spring-Ford’s] defense moving and it was easy to find guys in the crease,” said Bergey. “Offense, defense, we all clicked, and that’s what comes out of it, a nice win.”

Among the spectators in the spirited crowd at DiSerafino Stadium Thursday evening was Bret’s father, former Philadelphia Wings lacrosse star Jake Bergey, and Bret’s grandfather, former Philadelphia Eagles standout linebacker Bill Bergey.

Bret Bergey gave the hosts a 1-0 lead Thursday evening with a scoring shot from the right side midway through the first period. D-West senior midfielder Kurt Rachau came up with a resourceful underhanded shot in a crowd in front of the goal to make it 2-0, then Whippet senior attack Tyler Rodriguez tallied with 24.1 seconds left in the opening period to give the hosts a 3-0 lead.

By halftime, D-West had an 8-2 halftime lead, thanks to goals from six different scorers – Bergey, Rachau, Rodriguez, sophomore midfielder Carter Grear, junior attack Kevin Lundmark and senior attack Luke Venzie.

Rodriguez dished out five assists for the game, while Venzie tallied four goals and dished out two assists.

D-West also had a huge offensive advantage in faceoffs Thursday, as junior midfielder Michael Straub won 20 of 22.

The Whippets’ defense was led by junior Jackson Chiappa, junior Jake Toth, senior Egan Butala (three ground balls, two turnovers), senior Ryan Dever, sophomore long stick middie Tom Venzie (six ground balls, four caused turnovers), and sophomore Carter Grear (two ground balls). Junior goalie Zach Rossman collected seven saves for the Whippets.

Downingtown West (16-3) advances to the District 1 3A quarterfinals, where they will travel to fourth-seeded Garnet Valley Saturday for a 2 p.m. contest. The top six teams from the District 1 3A tournament will advance to the PIAA 3A state tourney.

For Spring-Ford (10-4), the season is over. The Rams were coming off a 10-5 win against Great Valley in its District 1 3A tourney opener Tuesday.

“Our guys are great, they battled through adversity all season long,” said Spring-Ford head coach Kevin Donnelly. “The league [PAC] started two weeks later than everyone else, and we had to play our entire league schedule before we could play out of league. Also, we had a lot of guys stepping into new positions this season after not playing [due to COVID in 2020]. It’s a special group of guys, and we’re going to miss the seniors.

“Downingtown West played well tonight. They played hard, they controlled the ball the entire game. We didn’t possess it very much tonight.”

Downingtown West 15, Spring-Ford 4

Spring-Ford                  0       2       1       1       –        4

Downingtown West    3       5       6       1       –        15

Spring-Ford goals: Wixted, Fish, Judge, Teets.

Downingtown West goals: Bergey 6, L. Venzie 4, Rachau 2, Rodriguez,  Lundmark, Grear.

Goalie saves: SF – Smith 12. DW – Rossman 7.