Experienced Springfield rolls over Pottsgrove
SPRINGFIELD —Springfield High has been a key player in the girls lacrosse District 1 playoffs for a long time.
Pottsgrove is making its way into the late stages of the tournament for the first time.
The host Cougars continued their solid post-season play with a 15-2 semifinal round rout of the Falcons at Halderman Field Tuesday afternoon. With the win, No. 2-seeded Springfield (16-5) will face No. 1 Villa Maria (20-1), the defending state champion, for the Class 2A title Thursday.
Pottsgrove (16-5) will take on Bishop Shanahan, which fell to Villa Maria Tuesday, 17-10, in the third-place matchup Thursday. Each of the teams that qualified for the district semifinals will take part in the PIAA tournament, which begins Tuesday, May 28.
Springfield’s 16-2 advantage in draw controls was the difference. Junior Alyssa Long had eight draw controls – all in the first half – and Temple-bound senior Julie Schickling chipped in with six – four in the second half.
“We know what a big difference it makes having the ball that much,” Long said. “It gives our offense a chance to work on things, and it’s good for our defense.”
Pottsgrove coach Kirstin Urie knew the challenges her team faced trying to stay with a team that has so much playoff experience, including a number of players who took part in the state championship match two years ago.
“There are so many things we can take out of this,” Urie said. “That was such a solid team, and playing someone like that at this stage of the playoffs was something new for our kids.
“We just haven’t seen competition like that this year, and we made mistakes that hurt us. We’ve accomplished so much this year, and now we have to work on putting things together and prove to these other teams that we belong here.”
Springfield had a 6-0 lead, with Julie Schickling getting two of her four goals, before Alyssa Petrucelli connected for Pottsgrove 8:34 before halftime.
Sophomore Casey O’Connor contributed three goals and Long, Olivia Pace, and Erin Gormley got two goals apiece for the Cougars.
Jordyn Mays found the back of the net six minutes before the final whistle to close out Pottsgrove’s scoring.
“We just worked on what we had been practicing,” Shickling said. “We didn’t know much about the other team, so we just had to play our game.
“Once we got up on them, we could work our plays and work on our defense.”
At this time last year, an injured Long was standing on the sideline watching her teammates.
“Something like that makes you see how great it is to be able to play,” she said. “I could see how things were going out on the field and could think about what might be better for us.
“I know there are still things we need to be working on, like our shooting and our teamwork. I know we’ll be ready for practice (Wednesday) because our next game will be coming up fast.”
The Class 2A district champion will take on District 12 runner-up Bonner & Prendergast in the opening round of the state tournament, while District 1’s second-place team will be paired up with the District 11 champion.
The third place District 1 team will have to meet up with District 3’s runner-up, and the fourth place team draws District 12 champion Archbishop Carroll to open state play.
“We have been playing much better in the playoffs,” Springfield coach Keith Broome said. “We’d like to keep that going.”
