Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Henderson holds off AG challenge
Warriors hang on, stay perfect in league with win at Avon Grove
Nobody in the Ches-Mont league is going to feel sorry for the West Chester Henderson boys’ soccer program.
The Warriors lost eight starters to graduation from a team in 2016 that won the Ches-Mont National, the Class 4A District 1 crown and went on to advance to the state semifinals. Rather than pity, Henderson is going to get everybody’s best shot, hoping to strike while the program regroups.
But so far it hasn’t happened. The Warriors improved to 3-0 in the league on Thursday afternoon with a hard-fought 2-1 decision over host Avon Grove (3-1, 3-2 overall).
“We are not sneaking up on anyone,” admitted Henderson head coach Sean Ryan. “Other coaches in the area have been talking for years now, waiting for last year’s senior class to graduate. But I believe there are good players still here.
“Those teams that have been licking their chops, we are ready
“We are not sneaking up on anyone. Other coaches in the area have been talking for years now, waiting for last year’s senior class to graduate. But I believe there are good players still here.” – Henderson coach Sean Ryan
to take their shot. We know it is coming and hopefully we can meet it.”
Deadlocked in a 1-1 standoff through more than 60 minutes of action, the Warriors got the goahead score when Charlie Collins beat a defender to a loose ball and lofted it past Red Devils’ keeper Christian Zamudio-Torres. There was still 19 minutes remaining in regulation, but Henderson managed to hold on.
“I just found the ball at my feet, picked my head up and just took a big swing at it,” Collins explained.
“The ball is always tough to get off Chuck’s foot,” Ryan added. “He does a nice job of getting through tight spaces and he pulled the trigger about 20 yards out. Sometimes if you work hard you create your own luck. We’ll take it.”
The Warriors (3-1-2 overall) kept up the pressure and limited Avon Grove’s late scoring chances. Sophomore forward Jackson Muller, however, had a header in front of the Henderson goal with less than two minutes on the clock, but it went over the crossbar.
“Henderson pressed us well and caused us to make a lot of mistakes,” Devils’ head coach Dave Whitcraft said. “They out-worked us in a number of situations (Thursday).
“They made us play a little tentative and we became more defensive-minded than an attacking team we’ve been for the first five games.”
Each side found the back of the net once in the opening half. The Warriors struck first about 10 minutes in when Dan Cantando scored on a rebound off an Avon Grove defender. The Devils came back to tie it midway through the half when Jose Castillo cleaned up a shot by teammate Ryan Villa.
But both sides had additional scoring opportunities. A diving save by Zamudio-Torres thwarted a penalty kick by Henderson’s K.J. Walkes in the opening minutes. And soon thereafter for the Devils, Hulisses Carmona’s free kick caught the crossbar and bounded out of harm’s way.
“Ches-Mont National games are always fierce,” Ryan said. “It’s always going to be physical and tight, particularly these afternoon games. Sometimes the kids are a little sluggish coming out of school.
“Dave (Whitcraft’s) kids always play hard. In my seven years at Henderson, I’ve never come here and (Avon Grove’s) put in a weak or soft performance. Those kids’ battle and we know if it is home or away, day or night, we will get a lunch-pail performance out of them.”
The Warriors still have a bunch of important league tests upcoming, but so far Ryan and company are learning and growing along the way.
“We definitely lost more than anybody else – we know that – but we have a lot of young talent and people are stepping up,” Collins said. “So it feels good to be 3-0. Not a lot of people think we are going to be much this season.”
Ryan added: “Obviously, there was going to be a lot of turnover and some guys are going to have to figure things out when it comes to what their role is. But we are a third of the way through the season now, so we can’t continue to use that excuse.”
The Red Devils were 7-7-1 a year ago and just missed out on a postseason season berth. But as Henderson discovered, it’s wise to respect Avon Grove.
“I think we can compete with anybody,” Whitcraft said. “We took advantage of most of our opportunities (Thursday), but I thought we could have created a little more.
“The season is young and there is a lot of parity in this league. We did play well in spurts, but there were a lot of hills and valleys.”