Hennessy sparks Springfield past Interboro

SPRINGFIELD — Ava Hennessy was involved in so many goals Wednesday that it was hard to keep them straight. It’s the price you pay to bring the kind of energy that the Springfield sophomore sparkplug does.

Suffice to say that by the time Hennessy tapped home a goal in the 78th minute, the final installment in a 5-1 Springfield win over Interboro in the District 1 Class 3A girls soccer first round, she’d made her mark just fine.

Hennessy’s goal was arguably the one she had worked least for on the day, waiting on the doorstep as Lexi Chiarlone curled in a free kick from 30 yards out that Interboro goalie Kayla Droxler bobbled. Once it hit the turf at Halderman Field, Hennessy was there to pounce.

“I told Lexi, no pressure,” Hennessy said with a smile. “She kicked it and I saw that the goalie had her hands up but they weren’t on the ball. And it deflected off her hand, and I just followed up.”

Hennessy was an active participant all day for the seventh-seeded Cougars (12-5-2), who advance to Friday’s quarterfinals at No. 2 Strath Haven at 7 p.m. The Central League rivals played to a 0-0 draw in the regular season Oct. 10.

Both benches Wednesday were occupied by teams that had accomplished preseason goals. It had been five years since Springfield had been in the playoffs, the program rebuilt over the last four seasons by coach Brian Coleman since a midseason coaching departure when the current crop a seniors were in eighth grade. In the interim, they’d come close to the postseason but seemed perennially fated to missing out by thin margins.

The win was particularly special to a group that has been with Coleman throughout his tenure.

“This is really exciting for us because we’ve been trying to make it to playoffs every year since freshman year, and we’ve come so close, under a (power) point away each year,” senior defender Alissa Kinney said. “And to finally make it and to finally have our first win is truly remarkable. I couldn’t be happier with our team right now.”

On the other side was 10th-seeded Interboro, notching its first playoff berth in years by grabbing the last spot. It’s a perennial struggle to collect enough points in a Del Val League that only sports four teams (though that’s up from last year). But with 12 wins, the Bucs scrounged up enough points to get into the postseason, and they battled Wednesday in a game that was 1-0 until the final 20 minutes.

“It gives a lot to this program because a lot of our sports are looked down on, like, ‘Oh, you go to Interboro; you’re not that good,’” senior forward Morgan Reed said. “But making it to the playoffs and being a team and working hard to get here feels good.”

What a save by Shannon Cutcliff on a Morgan Reed penalty! Clears the rebound from danger. Still 1-0 Cougars pic.twitter.com/Bn1TqMxhPI

— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) October 23, 2019

Interboro was in position to spring an upset if not for some clutch goalkeeping and clinical finishing from Springfield. Alyssa Long scored twice, and Shannon Cutcliff stopped a penalty kick to keep Springfield up at halftime.

Eventually the pace of Long, Hennessy and Erin Gormley wore Interboro down.

“They open up much of the field, so we can pass through the defenders and they can run onto it and score and do what they do best,” Hennessy said.

She created the opening goal in the 24th minute, her bombing run down the right flank allowing her to cross to Gormley. Though Droxler made a fine stop on Gormley, the rebound fell to Long to punch home a goal. Long had scored a hat trick in a 4-1 win over Interboro in both teams’ regular-season finale.

Carli Johnston made it 2-0 in the 61st, getting goal-side of her defender to roof a Hennessy cross over Droxler.

Interboro wasn’t out of fight yet, though. Reed stepped to the penalty spot in the 25th minute, after Kinney chopped down Becca Roberts at the edge of the box. Cutcliff guessed correctly and dove to her right to stop the penalty, then popped up to boot away the rebound ahead of the onrushing Reed.

“I fouled the girl down there, which is just by accident but they happen in games,” Kinney said. “But I knew my keeper had my back, but I think when she got the save, I think we had the momentum to keep the game going. And we came back and pulled out the win.”

Reed got her revenge in the 62nd. Cutcliff struggled with a Madison Brady free kick from 40 yards, sliding to kick it. But the ball caromed back into the six-yard box, and Reed buried it on the doorstep.

“Getting that goal, it made us want to work harder,” Reed said.

The momentum would be short-lived. Long lofted a shot in the 67th minute that Droxler, who had nine saves, spilled, with Gormley on the goal line to nudge it across. The Hennessy sprung Long on a break between the center backs and the lacrosse All-Delco hit a delightful chip with the outside of her boot that looped perfectly over Droxler, leaving the keeper no chance.

That was more than enough for Hennessy and Springfield to keep their run going.

“We stayed motivated,” she said. “We knew we wanted to win because we just won against them. It got in our heads and we did it.”