Springfield’s speed takes care of Lower Moreland

Springfield had one distinct advantage over Lower Moreland in Saturday’s non-league matchup. The speed of the Spartans proved overwhelming to the Lions as they ran away with a 14-4 win.

“Our midfield is built on speed and that’s really one of our advantages,’ Springfield coach Maggie Canavan said. “What we’ve been focusing on the entire season is reflecting our practice play into our game play.’

The Spartans dominated the first half play as they outshot the Lions 20-5 in the half and more than doubled up Lower Moreland in groundball pick-ups leading that edge 17-8 and won the draw control 7-4. Despite the statistical discrepancy Springfield only took a six-goal lead into break. Offensively the Spartans shared the scoring wealth as they had six different goal scorers and were led by Bailey Krewson, four goals, Lindsey Smith, three goals and Caroline Pape, two goals and two assists.

“50-50 balls, we focus on them every day and that’s what wins games,’ Canavan said. “As a team what we do is for every one of them there has to be two of us and that’s what we focus on and that’s why we come up with those balls.’

Fortunately for Lower Moreland it had a rock in goal for the first half as freshman keeper Melanie Goldstein tried her best to keep the Lions in the game as she made 10 big first-half stops and finished with 12 saves on the game.

“She’s awesome,’ Lower Moreland coach Jess Brown said of Goldstein’s performance. “She’s a freshman, she plays soccer goalie for varsity (and) she’s kept us in some tough games.’

Offensively, the Lions tried to remain patient when they were able to get sparing possessions however most of its offense was generated from one on one isolation plays particularly from Devon Felix and Lauren Rajauski as Felix netted two goals while assisting on Rajauski’s goal which stood as the final tally of the game. Rajauski also assisted on Felix’s second goal.

“Yesterday we were going over off-ball movements, setting picks, constantly moving, quicker movement and it’s still something we’re working on,’ Brown said.

Springfield is still trying to recover from a slow start to its season but with four league games still left to play the Spartans are hoping to put together a string of wins to hopefully position themselves for a playoff bid.

“We’re always hopeful,’ Canavan said of her team’s playoff chances. “We have two more weeks of games and hopefully we win all of them.’