
By Neil Geoghegan
ngeoghegan@21st-centurymedia.com
@NeilMGeoghegan on Twitter
WESTTOWN >> It never ceases to amaze how quickly things can change in a week’s time.
Seven days earlier, the West Chester Rustin and Avon Grove boys’ soccer squads battled for 87-plus-minutes in a regular season defensive struggle that ended in overtime. But on Tuesday, in round one of the District 1 4A Tournament, the rematch was quite different as the Golden Knights blitzed the Red Devils 5-0.
“We know (Avon Grove), so we tried to go after the weaknesses. We knew what we had to do to get the win,” said Rustin senior Danny McGonagle.
“Last week Avon Grove pushed us, so we knew that we had to be clinical and finish our chances,” added head coach Ryan Castle. “Our boys internalized it, we had great sessions on Sunday and Monday, and came out and defended our turf.”
The seventh-seeded Knights (15-3-1 overall) advance to round two Thursday and will host No. 10 Spring-Ford. The winner moves on to the quarterfinals.
“At the end of the day, you are going to have to beat good teams to get to where we want to get to,” Castle said. “We know Spring-Ford, we saw them at a preseason scrimmage, and they will have to come here.
“Our boys are hungry and we are healthy now.”
A key returnee was McGonagle. The midfielder missed the first meeting with the Devils due to an injury. On Tuesday, he registered a goal and an assist, and fellow senior Scottie Ely, a defender, scored twice.
“(Rustin) got McGonagle back, and he is a top notch player in our league,” said Avon Grove head coach Joe Herman.
“The goal was to battle (Rustin) as hard as we could, but they were better this time around. They certainly didn’t hit the post as many times as they did last week.”
The Devils’ season ends with an 8-11 mark which included losses in each of their final five matches. As the 26th seed, the squad was going to face a quality opponent, but seeing Rustin in round one probably didn’t do Avon Grove any favors.
“Any draw was going to be tough for us,” Herman said. “This team has battled the whole season. It’s the first time we’ve been in (the district playoffs) since 2010, so I was proud of how they battled just to get into the postseason.”
Clearly looking in post-season form, the Knights notched three goals in the opening half before the Red Devils managed their first shot on goal. At 24:23, senior Ben Lewis took a shot that forced Avon Grove keeper Jackson Mills to make a diving save. But sophomore Aiden Koch was there to clean it up at the far post.
Less than four minutes later, Ely notched his first of two goals in a row, and both came immediately after a Rustin corner kick. The first was off a McGonagle corner kick that Ely chipped over the shoulder of Mills and into the upper corner. Ely followed with the second, with 13:18 on the clock, when he successfully followed his own shot and save by putting into the back of the net.
“You’re asking for trouble when you give up a lot of corners,” Herman said. “And Rustin does well on set pieces. On their corners, (Ely) was just attacking the near post, and he was just tough to stop.”
Castle added: “Restarts at the high school level comes down to who wants it more. Scottie wanted it more. He is a senior that wants his journey to continue. He brings it every single game.”
The Devils seemed a step slow from the start, and after the Knights added two more goals in the opening 97 seconds of the second half, the outcome was never in doubt. McGonagle scored on a penalty kick and junior Cole Turner made it 5-0 before Castle emptied his bench.
“This was a big confidence win for us, but we have to come out Thursday with the same intensity,” McGonagle said. “It’s all about the next game.”
The final statistics were as lopsided as the final score. Rustin had a big edge in corners (6-0) and shots on goal (19-4). It was also the Knights’ 12th shutout of the season.
“At the end of every practice, all we do is work on set pieces – corners and free kicks,” McGonagle pointed out. “We really work on putting the ball in dangerous areas.”
It was also the 100th career win at Rustin for Castle, who is in his 9th season at the helm. In the final minute of play, his players doused him with a bucket of water.
“It’s a credit to every single boy that has been in the program,” he said. “They have done the work – I can’t take the credit.”
West Chester Rustin 3, Avon Grove 0
Avon Grove 0 0 — 0
W.C. Rustin 3 2 — 5
W.C. Rustin goals: Ely 2, Koch, McGonagle, Turner.
Goalie saves: Mills (AG) 14; Chappell (R) 3; Bugey (R) 1.