Kennett pulls off lopsided upset win over Downingtown West

DOWNINGTOWN >> Playing soccer in wet, rainy and cold conditions is vastly different from a dry field, and adjustments must be made.

And on Tuesday at DiSerafino Stadium, the visiting Kennett boys made those adjustments, and walked away with an impressive 4-1 triumph over slumping Downingtown West. It also didn’t hurt that the Blue Demons had the proper mindset to pull off a rare lopsided upset.

“If anything, I hope that our guys take away from this that if they have that gritty mindset, we can play with anybody,” said Kennett head coach Kevin Lentz.

“When the conditions get like this, you have to play gritty, and I think we probably did that a little better than (West) did – like winning the ball at midfield. I always tell our guys that the game is won at the midfield, and we stepped up and did that.”

At the tail end of a three-game murderer’s row stretch, the Demons improve to 4-3 in the Ches-Mont (7-4 overall). The previous two were close losses to West Chester Henderson (2-0) and West Chester Rustin (1-0), who entered the day with a share first place in the league standings with one loss apiece. Downingtown West was also atop of the standings … until Tuesday.

“We were coming off two losses to good teams, so this was a big win for us,” said senior defender Zach Mannices.

“This was definitely one of our better performances. We pressed and were able to stay on (West) to the end. In some games, we’ve dropped off and allowed some comebacks.”

It was another troubling outing for the Whippets (6-2, 10-3). They’ve now dropped two in a row against Ches-Mont foes after winning the season’s first nine games overall. And West has yet to play Henderson or Rustin.

“Anybody can beat anybody on a given day in our league,” Lentz said. “We have to bring it and expect to win. One of the big things we’ve been working on this season is not playing to the opponent’s jersey. Just go out and play.”

Whippets head coach Joe Sales was unavailable for comment. His team had a big edge in corner kicks (7-1) and yet trailed in shots on goal by a wide margin (13-7) on Tuesday.

“We worked hard and outplayed (West),” said senior forward Geo Carrillo, who scored two goals. “I think we wanted it more than they did.”

Carrillo opened the scoring midway through the first half when a shot by teammate Josh Gruenwald was knocked down, and rebounded his way.

“It bounced towards me and I put it in the back of the net,” he said.

“It’s always important to get the first goal, but it was especially big in this game because we really needed this win.”

Lentz agreed: “For whatever reason, it is big for us psychologically. I think we are strong defensively, so if we can score first we are able to hold the lead.”

Kennett then took a 2-0 lead into the half by scoring a goal that would never happen on a sunny, dry day when defender Wesley Presnell lofted a seemingly harmless shot that slipped through the fingers of Whippets’ keeper Christian Capone.

“The ball is going to skip in weather like this, so we talked beforehand about putting balls on net,” Mannices said.

“In the rain you have to play it a little safer,” Lentz added. “In our own end, you can’t get too cute. And then offensively, just putting the ball in dangerous areas is important. That second goal we had was exactly that.”

Another senior, Reagan Pelletier, made it 3-0 when he hit pay dirt on a free kick from the top of the box midway through the second half.

“They say in soccer that the worst lead to have it 2-0, because if (the opponent) gets a goal, they get the momentum,” Lentz said. “So that goal was monumental.”

Carrillo added his second tally following a scramble in front of the West net. The assist went to Mannices. West avoided the shutout when senior standout Matt Lohr scored on a penalty kick in the final two minutes.

“I think this was my best game of the season, for sure,” Carrillo said. “It was a big boost to my confidence.”

Mannices added: “We wanted to stay tight defensively, and we did that. Matt Lohr is very good and we were very aware of him.”

Kennett 4, Downingtown West 1

Kennett                                 2 2 – 4

Downingtown West          0 1 – 1

Kennett goals: Carrillo 2, Presnell, Pelletier.

Downingtown West goal: Lohr.

Goalie saves: Castro (K) 2; Vasquez (K) 4; Capone (DW) 9.