With attack clicking, Downingtown West blasts West Chester Henderson

WEST CHESTER >> The sequence typified all that happened on a rainy afternoon at Dicks Stadium.

With a chance to pull to within a couple goals and gather some momentum, West Chester Henderson’s Charlie Fort was stymied by Downingtown West goaltender Zach Rossman twice at point-blank range early in the second quarter.

Seconds later, Kevin Lundmark scored at the other end, and the Whippets went on to score the first dozen and cruise to an impressive 12-2 boy’s lacrosse victory on Thursday in Ches-Mont action.

“That kind of deflated us a bit,” admitted Warriors’ head coach Sean Evans.

“Our guys are just having fun,” added West head coach Billy Davis. “They are just getting used to each other. Things are definitely starting to click.”

It is still far too early to say with any certainty which teams are legitimate league title contenders for 2022, but Downingtown West (3-0, 6-0 overall) has to be on the list. And the Whippets lost a key piece when all-league and all-area junior Bret Bergey suffered a knee injury earlier in the season.

“We are waiting to find out if (Bergey is out) a couple weeks or a couple months. He did not have surgery,” Davis pointed out.

“It was rough earlier getting used to playing without (Bergey), but we have the ‘next man up’ mentality, and I think we have all the pieces,” added senior standout Michael Straub. “We just have to continue to build our depth.”

With Rossman in the cage, and a veteran group of defenders in front of him, West was already poised to be tough defensively. And through six games, it is allowing less than four goals per outing. But now it sure looks like the Whippets are getting better and better on the attack.

“We’ve been trying to figure some things out offensively and things have been clicking recently. I think we are getting more comfortable with each other,” said Straub, who has signed to play college lacrosse at Delaware.

He finished with two goals, an assist, and won 15 of 18 face offs against Henderson.

“Straub is a great face off guy, so (the Whippets) get tons of possessions,” Evans said. “Offensively, (West) moves the ball well, they are smart, and they know when to push it and when to slow it down.”

Davis added: “Michael can definitely put the team on his back. He gets the (face off) wins, gets the offense started, and that fires up the defense.”

In addition to Straub, the Whippets boast dangerous brothers Kevin and Owen Lundmark, who scored three and two goals, respectively. Juniors Carter Grear (two goals), Bram Monroe (goal, two assists) and Eddie Moore (goal) are also in the mix.

But the heart and soul of the team is on defense, where West has surrendered just eight goals in 12 quarters of action so far against Ches-Mont foes. The Whippets lost five seniors to graduation from 2021, but everybody is back along the back line, including Rossman, Thomas Venzie and Jackson Chiappa.

“(West) just plays good fundamental defense, and when we turned it over, they get the ball up-field. Plus they have a great goalie,” Evans said.

“I think we play really good team defense,” Straub added. “Of the goals we’ve given up this season, I think we’ve made our opponents earn all of them. We really don’t have any weak links on defense, and it shows.”

Sophomore midfielder Seamus Murphy scored both goals for the Warriors (1-2, 3-3), and Henderson goaltender Ryan Timmons was credited with an assist on the second. The senior also made nine saves in three quarters before exiting.

“We had a tough day,” Evans said.

“We are just going to keep working and keep grinding.”  

Downingtown West 12, West Chester Henderson 2

Downingtown West                                               3 3 6 0 — 12

West Chester Henderson                                     0 0 1 1 — 2

Downingtown West goals: Grear 2, Moore, Straub 2, Venzie, K. Lundmark 3, O. Lundmark 2, Monroe.

West Chester Henderson goals: Murphy 2.

Goalie saves: Rossman (DW) 3; Stang (DW) 5; Timmins (WCH) 9; DiLiberto (WCH) 1.