Luciani lifts D-West to district win

DOWNINGTOWN >> As goalkeeper for Downingtown West, Jonathan Luciani doesn’t try to make his job difficult.
See the ball and make the save. That is the formula for why Luciani has been so successful in front of the net this season.
The Whippets are reaping the benefits, none more so than in their District 1 Class AAA playoff opener against Wissahickon.
Twice in the first half Luciani faced the potential equalizer in an 1-on-1 opportunity. Twice he make the save, preserving West’s one goal lead.
“It’s just part of the job description to stop the ball,” Luciani said. “I just have to come up as big as possible and block the shot.”
Luciani’s six saves in his 78 minutes of action led No. 12 Downingtown West to a 3-0 win over No. 21 Wissahickon at DiSerafino Stadium on Tuesday afternoon. The Whippets (13-4-2) advance to play the winner of No. 5 Owen J. Roberts-No. 28 Penn Wood in the second round Thursday.
Both of Luciani’s clutch saves came when West held a 1-0 lead midway through the first half. In the 15th minute, Wissahickon forced a turnover in the West back giving Luciani an 1-on-1 opportunity in a split-second. Luciani deflected the shot and knocked it out of play.
West stopped the ensuing corner by the Trojans to maintain the one goal lead.
On Luciani’s second 1-on-1 attempt, Darien Williams broke through the wing and had a clear shot at the goal in the 19th minute. Luciani dove to his right and stopped the shot. Wissahickon (11-7-1) only had two shot opportunities in the first half, both on tremendous saves by Luciani that propelled the Whippets for the remainder of the afternoon.
“It wasn’t just me out there, but a group effort,” Luciani said. “There was a lot of communication from the back line coming from Brian (Coyne) and Austin (Graf) and the results were there. We just kind of shut them down.”
In addition to strong play from the back, Coyne provided the kick of the game late in the first half. After an injury timeout, Coyne had a free kick roughly 40 yards from the net. Coyne sent the ball to the front of the net where only Jake Weaver could reach it. Weaver placed the header past Wissahickon keeper Zach Reiner in the 29th minute to give West a 2-0 lead.
“I’m one of the tallest kids out there,” Weaver said. “I have to go up there for the head ball and deflect it in. It’s a normal play for me.”
West scored the first goal of the game on a pass from Levi Maruca to an open Reilly Rodrigues on the left side. Rodrigues used a soft touch to finish the play and give West a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute.
Maruca finished with two assists on the afternoon. The second one sealed West’s victory after he dribbled past three defenders on the left side and created an 1-on-1 opportunity with Reiner. Maruca hit the post, but Clay Moyer was there for the finish as the Whippets took a 3-0 lead in the 65th minute.
The goal was Moyer’s 13th of the season.
After missing the district playoffs last year, West has 16 seniors to rely on and make a deep run this season. The Whippets aren’t content with just one win nor interested in an early round exit.
Not with Luciani and the brick wall he’s been providing in goal throughout the season.
“We knew how to make it to districts with 16 seniors,” Weaver said. “Now that we’re here, we’d like to go as far as we can. We’re going to come out strong every game, just like we did today.”

Downingtown West 3, Wissahickon 0
Wissahickon 0 0 – 0
Downigntown West 2 1 – 3
Downingtown West goals: Rodrigues, Weaver, Moyer.
Goalie saves: Reiner (W) 3, Luciani (DW) 6, Meals (DW) 0.