Last year, it was a nice bonus, but this year it was expected.
The Springfield Township girls’ lacrosse team, with a strong returning core, planned to compete for an SOL American Conference title. They faced some trouble in the first quarter on Wednesday night, but it was only temporary.
The Spartans dominated in the second and third quarters, then managed to win in the fourth, defeating Wissahickon 13-10 and earning a share of the conference title for the second year in a row.
Spartans senior Emma Yoder said, “Our sophomore year was a building year for us. Winning junior year and losing only a few seniors, this year we expected to win, and we're happy we did.”
Springfield Township shares the SOL American title with Upper Dublin, as the Cardinals beat Cheltenham 15-3 earlier on Wednesday. Last season, the conference title was shared between the Spartans, Cardinals and Upper Moreland.
A 7-6 loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh on April 29 prevented Springfield Twp (12-5, 10-1 SOL American) from an unbeaten league season. However, the Spartans’ 9-7 win at Upper Dublin on April 24 kept the possibility of sharing the title open. 12 minutes into Wednesday’s game, Wissahickon was leading 3-1, but the Spartans were not performing well.
Senior midfielder Maddie McDevitt said, “We needed to adjust to their zone because we were used to playing against man defense with Abington. Once we figured out their strategy, we started getting more chances to score.”
Emma Greenberg scored with 7:22 left in the first half, giving the Trojans a 4-2 lead. Back-to-back goals by Fiona Rizzo, both assisted by Samantha McDevitt, started a four-goal Spartans run to end the second quarter with a 6-4 lead for the visitors at halftime.
Maddie McDevitt, who scored the last two goals of the half, said the Spartans were not just content with taking the lead. Yoder, committed to St. Joseph’s where she'll join her older sister Maddie and fellow Springfield Township alum Emily Smith next year, added that there were no major changes, just a focus on maintaining their level of play in the final six minutes.
Yoder said, “We aimed to keep our energy up and keep finding the open player. We continued doing exactly what we had been doing. I think we had a 70 percent success rate on draws in the first half, so we wanted to increase it to 80 percent.”
Maddie McDevitt and Yoder were responsible for most of Springfield Township’s draw control wins. McDevitt also stated that the team aimed to take advantage of fastbreaks off draw wins after halftime as another way to counter the zone defense. McDevitt led the Spartans with four goals, and as a senior Catholic University recruit, she also contributed two caused turnovers and four ground balls while playing on both ends of the field.
Yoder, who scored two goals, mentioned a change she and McDevitt made to improve their defense. The two senior midfielders, who play on both ends of the field, were moving out toward midfield whenever goalie Tess Talbot made a stop or the defense made a stop, which was actually harming the Spartans' ability to clear the ball.
"We needed to support our defense," Yode said. "We stayed back more, ran to the ball, and even if a defender got to it, we could make a second pass which would lead to a fastbreak."
Springfield Township began the third quarter with three consecutive goals and won the period 6-2 for a seemingly strong 12-6 lead going into the final quarter. Sophia Stehlik did everything she could to try and stop the momentum, scoring two of her team's four goals in the third with determination to penetrate the defense and either score or draw a foul.
Greenberg also scored three goals for Wissahickon, with the Trojans finishing the night in the No.16 spot in the District 1-3A rankings. Tatum Ruhren played bravely in goal, making eight saves including a couple difficult stops in close range, while Lila Marciniak scored two goals and Sam Farno completed the scoring.
Fiona Rizzo, a senior, scored three goals for the Spartans, Samantha McDevitt recorded three assists, Amelia Price scored two goals, and Olivia McCormick also scored. Frankie Rizzo, a sophomore, also contributed with a goal and an assist for the co-champions.
With eight seniors on this year's team, the Spartans also intensified their game with scheduling. Springfield Township faced tough opponents in Springfield-Delco, Garnet Valley and Bishop Shanahan, while also going on a team trip to Florida. McDevitt and Yoder explained that this may have led to more losses than last year, but it made the Spartans a stronger team.
"We've had so many trips and gotten so close," McDevitt said. "There's not really any hesitation in our minds going into these games. We're playing to win, so we're approaching it with the mindset that we're not thinking about losing and we're just going to go for it."
The Spartans held the No. 2 spot in the District 1-2A rankings on Wednesday night. With the postseason beginning next week, the team's experienced players want to make the playoff run that has so far escaped them.
"In the past, we've faltered in our first round of the playoffs but I'm really excited this year," McDevitt said. "I think we're more prepared this year than we were in the past few years."
Springfield Township 13, Wissahickon 10
Springfield Township 1 5 6 1 – 13
Wissahickon 3 1 2 4 – 10
Goals-Assists: ST – Maddie McDevitt 4-0, Fiona Rizzo 3-0, Emma Yoder 2-0, Amelia Price 2-0, Frankie Rizzo 1-1, Olivia McCormick 1-0, Samantha McDevitt 0-3, Shannon Silvius 0-1; W – Sophia Stehlik 4-1, Emma Greenberg 3-0, Lila Marciniak 2-0, Sam Farno 1-0.
