Recap: Westminster @ St. Pius

There are two things you can count on at St. Pius' Stadium on a beautiful Spring evening during the Playoffs: a great crowd and glaring sun beaming straight at the stands. Both were in evidence on Friday evening as the Westminster Wildcats visited the Golden Lions in the 2nd round of the 4A Playoffs. A great crowd from both schools had gathered, and the air was filled with intensity as the SPX squad made their traditional entrance accompanied by bagpipes. This was not only a rematch of a regular season game won by the Lions, but it was a rematch of last year's semis in which the Wildcats prevailed, so both teams were aware of the stakes for this tilt.

As this 4A battle got underway, it didn't take long for the scoring to begin, as Westminster's senior middie Trey Williams fed senior attackman Michael Thomas behind the cage and Thomas streaked around the edge for the goal. Less than two minutes later Pius answered when senior middie Rick Lewis dodged to his right and unleashed a righty crank that ripped net to even the score 1-1. Moments later the Lions took the lead when Kip Bray fed fellow senior attackman Garrett Dominy for the early go-ahead goal. It took a couple minutes for the Wildcats to answer, but junior attackman Shelton Collier assisted on Michael Thomas' second goal of the opening quarter to knot the score 2-2. Later in the period the Wildcats' junior middie Andrew Steuer retook the lead as he dodged to his left and slid a nifty shot low into the back of the net. But the Golden Lions answered again when senior middie TJ Bickes found junior attackman Donovan Kuhstoss cutting to the crease for a goal that tied it 3-3. In the last minute of the 1st quarter, Westy's Shelton Collier dodged all the way around the cage and buried a lefty overhand shot to give the Wildcats a 4-3 lead at the end of the 1st.

Early in the 2nd quarter, St. Pius again tied the score 4-4 when TJ Bickes dodged from X around the right side for an unassisted goal. But Michael Thomas must have been watching from the other end, because he made a mirror-image of that play to put the 'Cats back on top 5-4. At the 4:29 mark, Thomas assisted this time as he fed senior attack/middie Jimbo Izlar for a nice quick-stick goal. Less than a minute later, Thomas struck again as he faked a pass as he rolled around the left side from X and slid a crafty shot past the Pius goalie. Shelton Collier capped an impressive run by the Wildcats with a lefty crank that rang pipe before finding the back of the net to give Westminster an 8-4 lead at halftime.

After the halftime break, the Lions were looking to solve the stout Westminster defense and great goalie play by junior Ned Zakas, and SPX was able to chip into the lead at the 10:08 mark when TJ Bickes fed junior middie Curtis Doelling as he streaked to the crease for a nice quick-stick goal. Several minutes later the Lions scored again when freshman middie Patrick Girard dodged from the top of the box and beat his man for a low shot that made it 6-8. But Westminster answered on a fast-break when junior d-pole Danny Catan fed Shelton Collier for a goal at the 4:26 mark. Collier struck again two minutes later as took the point on a fastbreak and threaded a long pass to Collier on the doorstep to give the Wildcats a 10- 6 after 3 quarters.

A few minutes into the final quarter, the Lions' TJ Bickes cut into the lead with a nice unassisted goal as he dodged from X with an ankle breaker change of direction and buried a shot to upper right. But Westminster answered quickly on a fastbreak that ended with a right hand crank from Jimbo Izlar after an assist from junior middie Blake Ashley to make it 11-7. Izlar scored again a minute later on a nice passing combo from Trey Williams to Michael Thomas for the assist. Michael Thomas gave the 'Cats a 13-7 lead less than a minute later as he found net after an assist from Shelton Collier. And Blake Ashley rounded out the scoring with an unassisted fastbreak goal with a hard righty shot that found the upper right corner. The final score showed Westminster on top 14-7.

This was an impressive showing and turnaround for a Westminster offense that had been uneven throughout the regular season. The attack combo of Michael Thomas (5G, 3A), Shelton Collier (4G, 1A) and Jimbo Izlar (3G) was too much for the Pius D, and Thomas obviously had a stand-out performance. The Westminster defense did a great job of keeping Pius' All-American Rick Lewis at bay, and the Lions offensive attack was never able to find a consistent seam in the 'Cats D. If Wesminster puts together four quality quarters in their Semi-Final meeting with Lambert, it could be a very interesting night.

Photos courtesy of Steve Powell, Copyright 2011, All Rights Reserved.