PIAA Class 3A Girls Lacrosse: Anabel Kreydt rewarded with long-sought goal as Springfield cruises through first round

SPRINGFIELD — Anabel Kreydt is a USA Lacrosse All-Academic and All-Delco honoree. The Springfield defender is bound to play the sport at Division 1 Robert Morris.

She is very good at what she does. On Tuesday, Kreydt did the one thing she had never done before as a high school lacrosse player.

Kreydt scored a goal.

“I usually stay behind the shooters,” Kreydt said, laughing. “Today was the day.”

The goal came in the second half of Springfield’s 17-5 win over District 3’s Southwestern High in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A tournament. She was fed a pass from freshman Mary Longo and had a clean look at goalie Cam Storey. She fired the shot and scored, earning celebratory screams on the Springfield sideline.

“We were practicing it all week,” senior Erin DeStefano said

“Last home game. Why not?” Kreydt said. “I used to be an attacker until eighth grade, when I moved to defense.”

Maddie Kane led the Cougars (19-3) with five goals. DeStefano added two goals and four assists, while Emma Barrett and Kylee O’Donnell each tallied twice.

“We were all moving the ball well and getting each other open,” Kane said. “It worked well.”

One of Springfield’s areas of focus as it prepared for the state tournament was improving its transition game.

“We worked a lot on pushing and worked together as a team,” DeStefano said. “Also trying to get the ball back behind. We all played hard and everything clicked today.”

Kreydt was satisfied with the Cougars defense, which forced a bundle of turnovers. Lexi Aaron, who had a goal and an assist, Devin Buggy and Mia Valerio played well on the defensive end.

The Cougars, who lost to Penncrest in a heartbreaker in the District 1 semifinal round, had the type of strong overall performance that allowed them to get Kreydt an opportunity to record her first goal in garbage time. They dominated a short-handed Mustangs club from the outset. Several of coach Randy Cavanaugh’s top players were either injured or on trips abroad that were scheduled months in advance.

The decision by the PIAA to move the spring sports season up one week has caused headaches for many teams. With only two players available on the bench, the Mustangs (16-7) had zero margin for error. Lexi Plesic (three goals) and Storey (nine saves) gave their best against a superior program.

“We have two girls with ACL tears and three kids in Norway, another girl is out for the year with shin splints. Some of our best girls are not here,” Cavanaugh said. “It’s hard … but we gave it everything we had. Springfield is a class act. In the past three years we are 51-14 and of our seven losses this year … five of them were by one or two goals.”