Downingtown East shows its growth with District 1-4A semifinal win over Pennridge

DOWNINGTOWN >> In a preseason scrimmage, Nicole Prendergast and the rest of Downingtown East’s girls soccer team had their eyes opened in a scrimmage against Pennridge.

Fast-forward a few months, drop the temperature a couple dozen degrees and add a trip to the district final on the line, and the Cougars were eager to show the Rams how much they’d learned since that one-sided setback. Prendergast, a stalwart senior defender, and her classmates have been through a lot but they hadn’t yet been to a District 1 title match.

Thanks to a well-hit goal by a freshman and some swarming defense, the No. 4 seed Cougars unseated the two-time defending district champion No. 9 Rams 1-0 at DeSerafino Stadium and Downingtown West.

“They scored in our first scrimmage I think in the first minute, so we were ready for their quick attack and we really wanted to get the first goal,” Prendergast said. “We didn’t want to concede anything, which would allow us to get the momentum and force them to play from behind against us.”

Tuesday’s match was also a good indicator of the toll a compressed regular season and long playoff run can have on a team. Pennridge, already down a few key players, was further handicapped with senior Emily Kriney out for the season with a broken foot and a couple reserves back home due to illness.

Of course, Downingtown East was going through it on the other side. The Cougars had a couple players out sick or injured as well and were minus two of their top players in Madison Shumate and Taylor Coulter.

So instead of the elder Shumate, it was freshman Kylie who came through to get her older sister and the rest of the upperclassmen through to the elusive district final.

With a little more than 15 minutes left in the opening half, Downingtown East forward Caroline McDonald made a powering run down the left flank and served a ball into the box that just scraped a closing defender’s leg. The ball flicked off Eileen Hewitt’s leg and right into the path of Kylie Shumate, who ripped the one-timer off her right foot and into the back of the net.

“I was a little nervous because I get really stressed in those situations,” Shumate said. “It felt really good being able to score. It’s my first year being a freshman and now that we’re going to the district final it was a really good feeling to be able to help us get there.”

That ball was the only one to beat Rams senior keeper Sierra Shaeffer, who made seven saves in a terrific effort that included an unbelievable diving parry of a shot by McDonald in the waning moments of the match. With all the changes in the lineup, both starting and off the bench, Pennridge was predictably off its usual pace in the first half but ramped up its effort in the second half.

While the effort was there for the defending district champions, so was Downingtown East’s swarming defense. Even on the large playing surface at DeSerafino, it seemed like the Cougars had 15 players and not the allotted 11 on the pitch with how quickly they closed on every ball the Rams won.

“We focused on that lot, it’s something we learned from our previous game with them,” Shumate, a center midfielder, said. “We knew we couldn’t give them time on the ball, because that’s what they’re good at. We did a good job of doing that, then once we won it back, connecting passes and getting up the field.”

Pennridge won’t be able to defend its district title, but the Rams are qualified for states, where they can try for a second consecutive PIAA title. Senior Riley Hepler was another standout on Tuesday, giving the team a near miss when her rocket from deep was denied on a terrific save by Lillian Matte over the crossbar.

Tori Angelo, who hit the post in the second half and Leah Malone also worked hard against the swarming Downingtown East defense but ultimately, a team has to score to win and the Rams were not able to on Tuesday.

“It seems like the story of our lives this season, we’re leaving too many goals on the field,” Rams coach Audrey Anderson said. “We’re not finishing our scoring opportunities. We have to do a better job and with this group, they have to understand it’s one thing to want it and another to fight for it.

“I thought in the second half, we fought a lot harder than we did the first half. There’s a lot of new faces here and we’ll figure it out.”

Defenders Prendergast, Bailey Horvath, Molly Walsh, Gabriella Kobell and Jenna Lacey plus defensive mid Karly Murlless spent the rest of the game making every blade of turf contested territory for Pennridge. If one defender got beat, another seemed to materialize right behind them and many promising-looking Pennridge forays turned into a dragged-out march through a thicket of blockers.

The effort didn’t surprise the senior center back, but she did note it took a little time this season to get to the level of continuity on display in the semifinals.

“We’ve had some injuries, which it can be difficult with those other players rotating in but we do a good job covering for each other,” Prendergast said. “We always know where each other moving, where we step and where we drop, so our communication is huge for stepping to the ball and everyone else dropping and covering for each other.”

Shumate credited the upperclassmen for bringing her right into the mix and the freshman goal-scorer said she put her trust in them to put her in the right spots to be successful.

After losing in the district semifinals last year, which due to the pandemic, did not grant them a state playoff appearance, the Cougars are happy to be back in states but also playing for a district title on Saturday. Downingtown East will meet No. 2 Owen J Roberts, a 1-0 winner over No. 3 Conestoga, at 6 p.m. Saturday at Spring-Ford.

As freshmen, Prendergast and her classmates were part of the last Cougars team to make states. This time, they’ll have a chance to lift a trophy before they get there.

“Coming into this game, we were really excited, especially going up against a team like Pennridge where we wanted to prove ourselves after that not-so-great result in our scrimmage,” Prendergast said. “We had a bit of a chip on our shoulder so to get that kind of win, it feels good.”

DOWNINGTOWN EAST 1 0 – 1

PENNRIDGE 0 0 – 0

Goals: DTE – Kylie Shumate