Plum shakes off nerves, shuts out Thomas Jefferson in WPIAL quarterfinals

By: Jeremy Tepper
Wednesday, October 27, 2021 | 11:11 PM

Before a WPIAL Class 3A quarterfinal matchup against Thomas Jefferson started Wednesday night, Plum coach Rafal Kolankowski noticed his team was a bit stiff.

Nerves were getting to the Mustangs, an expected reaction for a relatively young team playing in big game. Once the game started, though, the nerves weren’t apparent.

Plum jumped on Thomas Jefferson early, putting loads of pressure on the Jaguars defense before Luke Kolankowski scored from five yards out in the fifth minute. The No. 4 Mustangs (17-2-1) went on to score two more, earning a 3-0 victory over No. 5 Thomas Jefferson (16-2-2) to advance to the semifinals to play top-seeded West Allegheny on Monday.

The elder Kolankowski said the first goal relaxed his team, even though they already seemed plenty relaxed.

“I told them that if we could come out quickly and score, it puts pressure on the other team and opens everything up,” he said.

“I’ve got a young team. I’ve got a bunch of 15-year-olds that at times can be a little uptight, so getting that goal loosens everybody up and you play a little bit more relaxed.”

Thomas Jefferson coach Doc Kulish said his team panicked a bit in the first half, a deadly combination when paired with the Mustangs’ early aggression. That aggression was apparent in that opening goal, the result of a weakness Rafal Kolankowski saw in watching the Jaguars on video.

“I thought they stepped up very high, so we did a diagonal ball and our winger got it and played it over to Luke. That was a pretty hard shot to finish and he finished it and it gave us a boost. That was huge,” Kolankowski said. “That was by design. I watched some tape of Thomas Jefferson and I thought that play could work for us.”

Plum scored another goal less than four minutes later when Tristan Ralph took a beautiful cross from Lucas Pittman and chipped it in.

“They’ve got skilled guys at almost all of the positions. They’ve got guys who can control the ball,” Kulish said. “When they send the ball across the field, they get it where it’s supposed to be and you can’t ask for more than that. They know what to do when they get the ball.”

Plum added one more goal in the second half when Zach Fulton angled a kick into an empty net from 10 yards. Kulish thought his team played much better after halftime, noting that their passing and positioning was much better.

However, the damage was done in the first 40 minutes. Beyond the Mustangs’ crisp offense, they also put a stranglehold on the Jaguars’ offense, which didn’t put a shot on net until the 13th minute and didn’t really threaten to score until the 22nd minute when Ray Schrello got in close to the net before getting the ball jostled away from him.

Rafal Kolankowski said his team’s effective defense was a result of a combined effort by his players, who collectively quieted the Jaguars offense.

“I thought that we did a great job of working them. (Thomas Jefferson) didn’t get much one on ones. I think the focus was to try to deny them the ball and then eliminate those one on ones,” Kolankowski said. “Getting a shutout was the No. 1 goal. We stress that defense wins championships.”

Tags: Plum, Thomas Jefferson