Cougars Advance To District Semifinals

They didn’t look so young when it counted. The inexperience that translated into youthful mistakes earlier season drifted into a hazy, humid mist on Saturday, when faced off against Harriton in the quarterfinal round of the PIAA District 1 playoffs, at West Chester East High School.

When it counted, it was the young ones who stepped up. When it counted, it was the senior leadership that steadied any nerves the younger players might have had. When it counted, very young Springfield responded with a tense 13-12 victory over powerful Harriton to advance to the district semifinals, where the Cougars will face No. 1 seed Downingtown East on Tuesday at West Chester Henderson High School at 4 p.m.

Springfield was led by freshman Kate Ryan’s four goals, with three goals each coming from Rachel Charamella and Maddy Lynch, and one goal apiece from Courtney Kennedy and Alex Poplawski. Harriton countered with a game-high five goals from Lehigh-bound Carli Sukonik, Laura Walzer added three, Jessica Schwab chipped in with two and Caleigh Foust and Betsey Hurtado scored one goal each.

Against Springfield, it was truly a game of halves. Harriton controlled the first half; Springfield dominated the second.

Springfield’s Ryan scored what resulted in the game-winning goal with 9:54 left to play in the game. Harriton’s Laura Walzer had a tremendous game, scoring three goals, two in the last seven minutes of the game to make it close.

Springfield led once in the first half, 1-0. That was it. Harriton scored four unanswered goals to take a 4-1 lead and it looked as if the Rams would dominate much younger Springfield. But this Cougars’ team has grown steadily throughout the year. It’s adjusted to early adversity, and it’s shown resilience.

Springfield hung close for a half, then burst through to take complete control of the game in the second half. The Cougars began the second half by scoring six of the first seven goal in the second half. Springfield controlled seven of 10 second-half draws, translating into seven second-half goals.

“That was everything for us,” Springfield coach Keith Broome said. “Harriton completely dominated the first-half draws. They were beating us all over the field in the first half, on the draws, to ground balls, everywhere. We had to adjust, and it’s something we challenged the girls to do in the second half.”

They responded.

“We couldn’t win the draws in the second half, that was the game,” Harriton coach George Dick said. “We struggled with some basics, with things we normally struggle with. Give credit to Springfield, they adjusted and did well in the second half. But this is tough, if we caught and threw the ball the way we’re capable of, this could have been a little different.”

As for Springfield, it’s just the beginning.

“We’re headed to the state playoffs, this definitely shows we’ve done a lot of growing up as a team since the beginning of the year,” said the Cougars’ Maddy Lynch, who finished with three goals. “We move on.”