Mastropietro, Springfield dethrone Villa Maria for first state title

WEST GOSHEN >> From the outside, seven minutes could’ve seemed like an eternity. Nursing a three-goal lead in the PIAA Class 2A final against Villa Maria, a team that can score in bunches with its ability to win draws, a state title could’ve felt distant for Springfield Saturday morning.

But that wasn’t the way Olivia Pace and her teammates saw it.

“We’ve been pushing all year and working so hard, so six minutes was kind of nothing to us,” the junior attacker said. “We were just really excited for it to hit zero and to finally win. We’ve been working all season, and it’s just great to see how hard we’ve worked, and we and our coaches deserve this win.”

Those final few minutes at West Chester East High School epitomized everything Springfield lacrosse has become. Content that 10 goals were enough in a game orchestrated perfectly to the Cougars’ preferred pace, Springfield knew it had to keep the ball and drain the clock. Save for one blip, it handled the challenge superbly, running out 10-8 winners for its first state championship.

SPRINGFIELD WINS IT!!!!!
10-8 FINAL pic.twitter.com/90hbaz8flj

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) June 8, 2019

In the final nervous minutes, that meant one thing: As far as the Springfield bench was concerned, the ball wouldn’t stray far from the stick of Belle Mastropietro. She was the stalwart who saw out the one-goal win in the semifinals against York Catholic. And the senior captain demanded the ball late — and all the cross checks, pushes and heavy legs that came with it.

The reward was a gold medal that nicely complemented the turf-burned gash on her arm.

“In the York Catholic game, we said in the huddle, ‘Belle, you don’t want your senior season to end,’” Springfield coach Keith Broome said. “And I looked in her eyes and you knew she wasn’t going to allow it to happen. And then today, we said the same thing. ‘Remember your goal. Your goal is to win the state title.’ And she put the team on her back the last two games.”

Trophy time for @springfield_lax pic.twitter.com/Ahnkl7MHV1

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) June 8, 2019

“It’s definitely really stressful because we could turn the ball over at any moment,” Mastropietro said. “But I think we had faith in every single person who was on our attack to hold the ball and keep it moving so we could run out the clock.”

Every aspect of the Cougars’ game plan worked Saturday. They jumped out to a 6-1 lead. They got varied scoring contributions, particularly from midfield. They kept 5-11 Abby Walheim relatively contained on draws, with Mastropietro in the center often reducing them to ground battles.

Springfield led 7-5 at half and made the game a deliberate slog, taking its time with the ball. Mastropietro scored three times, twice in the second half.

She put Springfield up 8-5 just 62 seconds into the half, then bounced one home to make it 9-7 with 12:07 left. When Erin Gormley converted from eight meters, her third goal, with 11:28 to play, Springfield held a 10-7 lead. Content that the 10 goals would be enough, they resolved to milk clock.

They had only one lapse, with Julie Schickling pushing too fast to goal with six minutes left. Her effort was rebuffed, and Margie Carden scored to get Villa within 10-8 at 5:34.

But Springfield wouldn’t be outworked. Dana Mirigliano, who came up with eight massive saves, denied an eight-meter shot, and Mastropietro scooped the groundball prior to Carden’s goal. When Alyssa Long was stuffed on an eight-meter, Pace swooped in for the GB to extend a possession.
Mastropietro outhustled Walheim on the ground for the draw after Carden’s goal. Villa wouldn’t touch the ball again.

It typified the work Mastropietro does. With Schickling and defender Emma O’Connor, Mastropietro was one of the senior captains who received the trophy first. She’s not the loudest, but she radiates a quiet intensity on the field that is the lodestar for this group.

“Belle is willing to do anything for her team,” Broome said. “That means going back and getting the ball from the defensive end, running it down, getting a draw, assisting. She led us in scoring, assists and draw controls this year. But the best is when we’re in trouble, she’ll go down and get the ball and carry it up the field. That’s the dirtiest job you have, and she’s willing to do it, every game.”

“We always say, everyone has their own job. And as long as we each do our own job, we’ll be successful,” Pace said. “You have to do what your job is, and we can all learn from players like Belle and Alyssa and Erin and everyone on our team. We work together so well, so having them go out strong every minute of the game is just really cool to watch.”

While all seven Cougars in the attacking third took turns with the ball late, Mastropietro was the center of gravity. She absorbed a yellow card challenge from Kristen Kucia that left Villa down a player for the last 86 seconds. Mastropietro was pushed and shoved amid any and all Villa attempts to dislodge the ball. And she took it all with equanimity in her long, loping stride.

In a game plan assembled with precision and executed with aplomb, Mastropietro’s doggedness in the final minutes was the capstone performance.

And for the Temple commit, getting her hands on the championship trophy was a fitting culmination.

“It’s crazy,” she said. “I’m really proud of our team and everything that we’ve built.”