Spring-Ford on course for 3-peat, downs Pope John Paul II
BUCKTOWN >> When they met Pope John Paul II during the regular season, Spring-Ford had to rally in the final 10 minutes to win.
With the stakes higher Tuesday night in the PAC-10 semifinals, the Rams had no such sense of drama. Rather, a sense of urgency. They went out from the get-go and took the game by throat, beating the Golden Panthers 3-0 at Owen J. Roberts to position themselves for a three-peat in conference titles.
In topping PJP in the PAC-10 title game last year, Spring-Ford won by the same score. Gabrielle Vagnozzi scored twice in the first half of that game, and Tuesday night again she was one of the key reasons the Rams (15-2-2) got out fast on the Panthers. Her blast out of a nifty move in traffic near the box made it 2-0 about half-way through the first half.
Quite a contrast to the regular-season match with the Panthers (9-5), who led that game 2-1, only to the Rams storm back in the final 10 minutes to a 4-2 victory.
“Something about playing at 7 o’clock in a stadium really gets us going,” said a smiling Vagnozzi. “We thrive in this environment. PJP is our rival, so we wanted to come out strong. We love playing them because we like to stick it to ‘em.”
“We had a whole new energy coming onto the field and even on the bus,” said Spring-Ford senior midfielder Bri Cirino. “Our coach told us we needed to bring our energy and excitement and start over basically, because it’s like a new season for us and we want to make it far.”
The scoring started with Gabby Kane’s rebound shot in the 17th minute. Cirino set up with a rush down the right side, with her strong shot hitting the right post and Kane there to collect on the carom.
“I definitely think I need to start being more of an attacking player, because our goal moving forward into the postseason is scoring goals, and I know I need to step up as an attacking mid,” Cirino said.
PJP couldn’t sustain any attacks in the first half against Spring-Ford’s stellar defense, led by Taylor Newhart and Laura Suero, and solid midfield. The Rams controlled the pace and got their second goal with 19:36 remaining in the half on Vagnozzi’s threading through a couple of defenders.
“They’re built for turf,” PJP coach Stewart Sherk said of Spring-Ford. “They’re fast. Their depth is incredible, and they’re well-coached. Hands-down, they’re the best team in the PAC-10.”
Less than five minutes into the second half, Spring-Ford struck again on a beautiful play. Vagnozzi’s corner kick lofted nicely in front of the net, and Amy Roth perfectly timed a header for a 3-0 lead.
The Panthers mounted some offensive thrusts down the stretch but got cut off on the angles. Their closest threat to a score came with 13:50 left, sophomore defender Monica Rapchinski drilled a nice shot from an angle 25 yards out that hit the right post.
“We have yet to play our best,” Sherk said. “We have to be healthy. With a couple more days’ rest, if we can get some girls back healthy we can get back to winning ways.”
“We came out with a different urgency; they want to get back to a final and give themselves a chance to win another PAC-10 title if possible,” said Spring-Ford coach Tim Leyland. “The group played really well tonight. We were trying to keep the ball on the ground and do some simple things.
He added about PJP: “They have dangerous players in (Kayla) Mesaros and (Julia) Owens and (Reiley) Cotter, and their goalie (Colleen Morton) is very good, so we were very worried when we saw that was our draw.”
A PAC-10 three-peat would be sweet for Spring-Ford – a nice launching pad into districts, from which they’ve advanced to the state final four the past two years.
“I definitely think the program and our school would really benefit from winning three in a row and keeping that tradition,” Cirino said.
