PARKLAND
LACROSSE

In the span of less than two weeks, Downingtown West lost all four of its starting midfielders to season-ending injuries with an undefeated season – the best in program history – hanging in the balance.

The last remaining starter, Luke Kell, with an assist on the play call by one of the injured players, Chase Teti, came through to deliver the game-winning goal with 3:20 remaining in the Whippets’ 8-6 win over District 11 champion Parkland in Monday night’s PIAA 3A boys lacrosse tournament first-round matchup at Parkland High School.

It was Downingtown West’s first state tournament victory in program history.

“We’ve been trying to identify what we thought would work against them and one of our injured midfielders, Chase Teti, called out the play,” Downingtown West assistant coach Jim Schorn said. “There was no coaching at all by the coaches. He did it, did a great job, saw something that he liked, and we went with him. He’s been around the game his whole life, and he sees what we see, so it’s been good.”

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Kell, who missed part of the season while recovering from a broken collarbone, was thrilled to be able to step up in a new-look midfield that did just enough to knock off the upset-minded Trojans.

“It felt great. The whole game I was struggling to play with the newer people and find how they play and everything,” Kell said. “They called a play for me to cut through and cut out and catch and shoot. It’s cool to see [Teti] still involved in the game.”

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Parkland built consistent leads throughout the night in a back-and-forth game. Isaiah Fisher scored the first goal of the game with 10:43 left in the first quarter and the teams exchanged goals from that point until Kell’s go-ahead goal gave the Whippets their first lead of the game at 7-6.

Fisher provided leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before Bailey Wetmore scored the first goal of the second quarter to give Parkland a 3-2 advantage. Matt Scott dazzled on a pair of goals that put his team ahead 4-3 and 5-4 with less than five seconds left in the first half. Senior attacker John Gerancher was held off the scoresheet but provided four assists in the final act of his terrific four-year career.

​“On top of [making plays happen], he was banged up,” Parkland coach Scott Ketcham said. “He won’t let you know that. He’s one of the toughest guys you’ll ever see. He’s tougher than a $2 steak, man. He’s great and he’s a senior who didn’t want it to end today. He was a really good leader for those guys. He kept us going and got us off to a really good start tonight.”

 

Another impactful senior, Danny Tapia, fired in a long-range effort that ended up being the only goal of the second half for the Trojans. It created the sixth and final lead of the night for the Trojans who failed to hold on against a District 1 foe whose constant pressure created double-digit turnovers in the second half.

“That might be one big difference between here [in District 11] and down there [District 1] is the speed of the game,” Ketcham said. “Up here, a lot is about carrying and things like that. You really had to move the ball well [tonight]. I thought we struggled a little bit in the clear, which we haven’t done in a really long time. That unsettledness and that throwing off of pace can throw you off a bit, but we responded really well to it, too.

“It was just a battle of styles. I think we made a few mistakes that made us fight uphill a little bit. It was a long season, but we fought through it nicely.”

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The season ends with the Trojans sitting at a 14-7 record and with the program’s first district championship since 2018.

Parkland senior defender Ethan Leaks struggled to find the words when reflecting on what this final season meant to him.

“Since freshman year, we’ve just had each other’s backs the whole time. Especially our four defensemen. We’ve been playing since elementary school,” Leaks said. “We knew each other’s flaws. We know how to pick each other up if we were down.

“We finally got one … we’ve had silver all since freshman year. To get back at it [and win gold], we just knew what we had to do.”

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Ketcham, a first-year coach who became the third head coach of the team in less than a year, showed emotion as well following a heartbreaking loss to one of the best teams in District 1 and the entire state.

“We went from a team that didn’t really know what to expect at the beginning of the year to a team that hung out with the number one seed in District 1 and had them on the ropes the entire game,” Ketcham said. “Phase one of these things is knowing you belong and knowing you can play. We’ve come from that point of not really knowing much down at the field over at Moravian Academy to here hanging with the heavy weights in the first round of [states].

“I couldn’t be more proud of the guys and the seniors. They had no reason to trust anybody with so many coaching changes and everything like that, but they just bought in. We just went on a magic ride the last two months of just getting better and slugging it out and becoming such a great team.”

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Up next

Downingtown West (21-2) moves on to face the winner of District 1 champion, Springfield Delco, and Perkiomen Valley on Saturday at a site and time still to be determined.

Derek Bast is a freelance reporter who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.

DOWNINGTOWN WEST 8, PARKLAND 6

D. West – 2; 2; 2; 2 — 8

Parkland – 2; 3; 1; 0 — 6

Parkland goals: Isaiah Fisher 2, Matt Scott 2, Bailey Wetmore, Danny Tapia

Parkland assists: John Gerancher 4

Downingtown West goals: Jude Roosevelt 2, Aidan Benner 2, Ryan O’Donnell 2, Luke Kell, Cole Epps

Downingtown West assists: O’Donnell 3, Benner, Brady Epps, Jason Wafalosky

Parkland saves: Owen Fehnel 11