Late rally pushes Rustin past Henderson and into first place
WESTTOWN >> If the first half of the Ches-Mont boys’ soccer season is any indication, the race to the finish is going to be wild.
At the midway point, everybody in the league has at least two blemishes — including West Chester Henderson, one of the preseason favorites. The Warriors dropped to 6-2 on Thursday evening after falling to archrival West Chester Rustin 3-0, and have now dropped two straight.
“It’s a great league, with good coaches and players,” said Golden Knights’ head coach Ryan Castle. “So on any given night, if you don’t bring it, you are going to be susceptible to losing the game.”
Rustin inches into first place by a half-game, at 7-2 (8-3-1 overall). And in the second half – where all three goals were scored – the Knights looked like the side bringing it.
“Our players know most of the faces on the other side, and are going against former teammates in some cases. We came in a little overconfident, and it showed,” acknowledged Henderson head coach Chas Wilson.
“I think we were feeling ourselves a little bit going into these last two games. We really didn’t play with any urgency the last two games.”
Ironically, Henderson and Rustin were shutout in each team’s previous outing by another local rival, West Chester East, who is further down the league standings, but obviously dangerous.
“This is an any-given-game type of deal where you never know what is going to happen,” Wilson said when asked about the Ches-Mont. “The results, sometimes, are just shocking.”
The Warriors (9-4 overall) headed into the contest at No. 2 in the District 1 4A Power Rankings. But No. 10 Rustin dominated the final 40 minutes, and they did it with midfielder-turned-keeper Hudson Sunderlin in goal. The team’s regular goalie, Evan Chappell, is injured but is expected back soon.
“This is the third game we’ve played with a field player in goal,” Castle reported, “and we just beat the No. 2 team in the district. It’s not only a testament to Hudson, but the rest of the team just rallied around the situation.
“We rebounded from a tough loss on Tuesday and played a fantastic game. We had control of the game.”
In the opening half, it was mostly a battle played in the midfield, with neither side generating much in the way of prime scoring chances. Early in the second half, it looked like the first team to score first was going to win it. And less than 10 minutes in, Rustin made it happen.
“The first team that gets scored on has a bit of an emotional letdown,” Wilson said. “And the team that scores gets a boost.”
Senior Danny Scoffone delivered a perfect throw-in, junior teammate Ryan Ross got his head on the ball, and senior Jake Truitt finished it off.
“It was a huge goal, and we held all of the momentum after that,” said Knights’ senior Will Mason.
“Restarts are a huge part of the game,” Castle added. “It just comes down to who wants it more: the defending team or the attacking team. Jake had the grit to say ‘I am going to anticipate a ball and just put my body through it.’ I loved it.”
Midway through the period, Mason appeared to score off Rustin’s first corner kick, but was whistled for offside. But with 9:44 remaining, the senior notched his first goal of the season after heading in a crossing pass from Truitt.
“This is a big rivalry,” Mason said. “The Hendy student section are not big fans of me.
“I thought the offside goal was in, so it felt great to come back and get another header. It was an insane feeling.”
Castle added: “After that goal, (most of the Henderson student section) left. That epitomized our domination of the game, I believe. Jake had a fantastic run down the line, served a great ball, and Will was there to head it in.”
The Knights then capped it off with a goal by J.J. Jackson in the final minute. And Sunderlin turned aside all seven shots on goal he faced, and notched the shutout.
“It’s up there with the best we’ve played this season,” said Rustin defender Everett Stephens. “It was nice to see that first goal go in – it was a little weight off of our backs.”
For the Warriors, it was a second consecutive shutout against their two top rivals.
“It’s just a slump,” Wilson explained. “The thing that our players need to understand is that they don’t have to be pretty goals. Sometimes, they can be scrappy goals, effort goals and energy goals.
“Once we get those going, the pretty goals will come.”
West Chester Rustin 3, West Chester Henderson 0
West Chester Henderson 0 0 — 0
West Chester Rustin 0 3 — 3
West Chester Rustin goals: Truitt, Mason, Jackson.
Goalie saves: Teran (WCH) 6; Sunderlin (WCR) 7.
