Connect with us

Fall Sports

Johnson’s OT goal lifts Downingtown West past Plymouth-Whitemarsh for 3A District title

West hoists the District 1, Class 3A trophy for the second time in three years (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

EAGLEVILLE—Tatum Johnson was a sophomore starter two years ago when the Whippets last won a District 1 championship, and followed up with a trip to the state finals. But as good as it felt to win that first one, this one might just be a little sweeter.

Johnson came through with a goal in overtime Saturday afternoon at Methacton High School to complete a 3-2 comeback victory over No. 2 Plymouth-Whitemarsh, handing eighth-seeded Downingtown West (17-5) its second District title in three years.

“Last time, I think everyone expected us to win,” said Johnson. “This time, we came in as the No. 8 seed, and we took a few tough losses along the way. So I think this one might just be a little bit sweeter. But we all know that when we play the way we can, we can play with anyone.” 

Tatum Johnson slips the game winner past Colonials’ goalie Sarah Trask (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

Johnson subbed into the 7-on-7 overtime with a little less than ten minutes left in the extra stanza, and immediately drew the attention of Colonials’ defense. Meanwhile, Ashley Plzak grabbed a ball around midfield, and took off up the right sideline, then let loose with a pass across towards the goal, where Johnson was waiting, stick down, to slip in the game-winner. 

“I know when I see Ashley coming down the sideline, I better be ready with my stick pointed towards the goal, because she is going to get it to me,” said Johnson. “I don’t always have my stick pointed the right way, and miss across, but I couldn’t let that happen this time. I wasn’t positive I had gotten it, but then heard it hit off the wood , and the feeling was amazing.”

West’s Ashley Plzak battles with Kayla Link (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

Plymouth-Whitemarsh was on the board before many of the fans had even settled back into their seats after the national anthem. Awarded a penalty corner, the Colonials’ Ava Borkowski found the back of the cage for a 1-0 lead with just 52-secconds off the clock. Borkowski had the Colonials other goal as well, making it a 2-0 game with just over ten minutes left to play.

“This is the farthest this team has gotten in a really long time,” said Colonials’ coach Beth Lynch. “This is a strong team that can win games at the state level, and hopefully playing as well as they did today and not getting the outcome will serve as motivation come Tuesday and the first round of states.”

Few teams have kept the Whippets off the board for as long as Plymouth-Whitemarsh had. West had entered the championship game with 17 goals in three post-season wins, outscoring the opposition 17-2 in that span. 

Ciana Riccardo lets loose with a shot on goal (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

“For as many corners as they had, our defense did a good job of keeping them out of the cage,” said Lynch. “I was really proud of the girls in the back. Kayla Link has been solid all year and goalie Sarah Trask came up with some big saves. They did a nice job of turning lemons into lemonade, keeping them off the board but allowing so many corners.”

But the Whippets have been in that position before, both this season, and the last time they were in a championship game and fell behind Conestoga 2-0 before coming back to win 3-2. So no panic, just get to work.

The Whippets kept that corner pressure up, finally getting on the board when Plzak converted a corner with 7:05 to play.

Ashley Plazak celebrates her game-tying goal (BILL RUDICK for MediaNews Group)

“None of us were too worried,” said the freshman Plzak. “We talked in the huddle, and we all knew we could do it. We knew there was still fight in us, and we even talked in practice the other day about how the last time we were here we fell behind 2-0.”

Plzak came up with the tying goal as well, converting a corner with 2:31 to play.

“Ashley has been big for us all season, and has been great in transitioning the ball,” said West coach Steph Bullock. “We have a number of young players that have come through for us.. We played well today, but we’ve got to play through possessions and finish. As we move on and face stronger opponents, we are going to have to be able to finish.”

Up next for the Whippets is a first round match in the PIAA tourney against, Central Dauphin the fourth-place finisher from District 3, back at Methacton, Tuesday November 5, at 6 PM.  The Colonials will have a first round match-up against Easton, the District 11 runner-up, at Wissahickon at 5PM Tuesday.

Plymouth-Whitemarsh 1 1 0—2
Downingtown West 0 2 1—3

Goals:
PW—Borkowski (2)
DW—Plzak (2), Johnson

Goalie Saves: Trask (PW) 11, Schmidt (DW) 4

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in Fall Sports

situs slot gacor provider terbaik agen toto slot terpercaya 2023 agen toto togel terpercaya 2023 situs toto togel pasaran resmi terbaik bandar toto macau pasaran resmi toto togel bandar toto slot gacor 4d 2023 bo togel online pasaran terlengkap sepanjang masa bo toto slot terlengkap sepanjang masa situs toto togel 2023 bet 100 perak daftar toto slot dan toto togel 2023 bermain toto togel dengan bet hanya 100 perak daftar toto slot bonus new member terpercaya bermain toto slot pelayanan 24 jam nonstop situs toto togel terpercaya situs toto togel online terbaik winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto unsurtoto unsurtoto unsurtoto winsortoto winsortoto winsortoto rasa4d rasa4d rasa4d gampangtoto gampangtoto gampangtoto winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto rasa4d bungtoto bandar toto togel terbesar hadiah 4d 10 juta daftar winsortoto situs toto terbaik winsortoto situs toto slot gacor dengan toto togel terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bet 100 perak winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto slot 4d winsortoto situs toto togel online deposit 10rb winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta winsortoto agen toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto agen toto slot dan situs toto togel resmi winsortoto situs toto togel 4d terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto togel online resmi terbesar winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto terpercaya beragam bonus winsortoto situs toto terpercaya toto togel dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs togel online dan slot online terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online hadiah terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel bonus harian terbesar winsortoto agen togel online terlengkap bet 100 perak winsortoto situs toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d terbaik winsortoto situs toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel online terpercaya 2023 winsortoto agen toto togel 4d dan toto slot 4d winsortoto agen toto togel online banyak bonus terbesar winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus new member winsortoto situs togel online resmi terpercaya pasaran terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel online 4d terpercaya situs toto togel deposit pulsa tanpa potongan winsortoto situs toto slot pasti slot gacor winsortoto situs toto slot dan toto togel hadiah terbaik winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan resmi dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto resmi bonus new member 100rb tanpa potongan winsortoto toto slot gacor dan togel online resmi terpercaya winsortoto situs toto toge online terpercaya di Indonesia winsortoto toto togel online bonus new member terbesar winsortoto agen toto togel resmi hadiah 4d 10 juta terpercaya winsortoto toto togel online hadiah 4d 10 juta bet 100 winsortoto situs togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs togel online resmi dan toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel dan agen toto slot gacor winsortoto situs toto togel permainan toto togel dan toto slot winsortoto situs toto terpercaya bonus menarik winsortoto situs toto togel online terpercaya winsortoto bandar toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online terlengkap dan terpercaya winsortoto situs toto togel online winsortoto situs toto terpercaya togel online dan slot online resmi winsortoto situs toto dengan permainan togel 4d dan slot 4d winsortoto situs toto terpercaya permainan togel online terlengkap winsortoto situs toto togel terpercaya permainan resmi winsortoto situs toto togel resmi bet 100 perak tanpa potongan winsortoto agen toto togel dan situs toto resmi winsortoto toto togel dan toto slot terpercaya dan terbaik winsortoto unsurtoto gampangtoto bungtoto rasa4d titi4d ltdtoto bobatoto bobatoto situs toto togel slot situs bandar toto togel slot terpercaya titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d slot titi4d togel situs titi4d titi4d login titi4d daftar titi4d titi4d togel titi4d slot situs titi4d agen titi4d bandar titi4d