Cougars Soccer Team Can Hold Their Heads High

The boys’ high school state playoffs are finally set and won’t be apart of it.

The Cougars aren’t hanging their heads, though.

The team had one of the best seasons in program history, as they were one of the most feared teams in the area down in the stretch run.

After losing, 1-0 to Central Bucks East a little over a week ago, their season came to a close. It wasn’t just any season, but a season that Springfield showed a fight in every game en route to district playoffs.

“I feel as though we would’ve went to a penalty shootout and we would’ve won because our goalie was playing so strong,” said head coach Jason Piombino. “We put up a good fight.” 

The way they fought is the reason why Springfield’s future looks bright, as they return nine starters next year.

“From the beginning we didn’t have many expectations,” said Piombino. “The boys did exactly what we asked. They took it one game at a time. We haven’t made the playoffs in a while. Winning the playoff game is big for the program. I think it is going to help moving forward. The guys have goals now. We have high expectations for next year.”

This season, the Cougars used a smothering defense to record six . Junior goalie Dave Sousa was in charge of anchoring the backline, as caused havoc in the midfield.

The Cougars had strong leadership from a junior class as well.

“We had team defense and good goal keeping,” said Piombino. “We made sure to capitalize on the chances that we had. We had, like, 19 goals on set pieces or restarts. Right there you can see the chances that we had and we capitalized.” 

The Cougars did just that in their playoff opener against Boyertown. Playing on the road, and considered as underdogs, Springfield’s defense kept Boyertown at bay, as the Cougars scored 40 seconds into overtime.

Defense is what kept the Cougars in games.

“We felt that if we could keep the game close, we would have success in our restarts,” said Piombino. “We had a goalie that kept us in the game. He came from playing junior varsity to running for goalkeeper of the year. I think we preached defense first and because of that we felt that if we kept the other team scoreless or giving up a goal in a game we had a chance to win.”

When the Cougars needed to win their games the most to clinch a playoff berth, they didn’t fold under pressure.

“I think it showed how good of a team we became,” said Piombino. “Even though we knew the playoffs were there we tried not to put a lot of pressure on the guys. We tried to avoid discussing it and looked at the game at hand. It was evident that these guys played hard in every minute of every game.”

Furia will be missed as he finished with seven goals and 13 assists, but next year the Cougars are looking to contend again.

Every player will have experience from this year’s team and Springfield has one of the best goalies in the area as well.

“It was fun. It was very successful,” said Piombino. “The community, peers, and teachers were behind us. They saw we were able to do here and there is a lot of excitement for next year. I think we gained a lot respect in the league.”

One reason that the Cougars have the potential to be a better team is because Piombino also preaches improvement. 

“I tell them all the time that you are only as good as your next game, not your last game,” said Piombino.

In this case, Springfield is only as good as its last season, a season that was far from a disappointment.