ERDENHEIM >> For the last 11 months, Springfield Township’s been motivated by the way its 2022 season ended.
After winning the first league and district championships in program history, the Spartans made their first appearance in the state playoffs and went all the way to the PIAA-2A final, where they lost in double overtime to Hershey.
That defeat fueled the team through the offseason and the results were evident on the field – winning their first 11 games of this season. They suffered their first loss last week – 1-0 to Abington, a top 5 team in District 1-3A.
Springfield Township got back on the field Wednesday after some good practices and got back to its winning ways, scoring twice in the second half to pick up a Suburban One League crossover win over Wissahickon, 3-1, at Springfield Township High School.
“In the end, I think the (Abington) loss was probably a good thing for us,” Springfield Township coach Dan Meder said. “Obviously it was tough to lose, but it exposed some weaknesses and showed us things we need to work on. We’ll keep doing that. It’s good to have this kind of competition. I love the competition in our league because last year when we did move on to the postseason we were ready for it because of the level of competition in our league.”
“Practice was definitely more serious after (the Abington loss),” Springfield captain Riley Martin said. “We finally focused, locked in and generally we wanted to come out and get a win today. That’s what we did – we got a win. We obviously could have done better, but we always could do better. I like how we came out today.”
“We go 11-0 and then we lose a game,” captain Nick Marino added, “it’s a big change mentally. You kill teams and then you lose 1-0. It changed everyone’s mindset. We don’t want to lose again, so everything became more serious, a lot more passion, because losing sucks.”
Over their first 11 games of the season, the Spartans outscored their opponents 39-10.
“What drives us the most,” Martin said, “is that all of us went through that experience (losing the state final) and we never want to go through it again. What motivates us is we keep pushing. We want to go back again. We want to be there, but this time we want to win. We just strive for that every day – keep the grades up, all that good stuff. We want to play. We come out and fight every day. That’s what we’re going to do until the end.”
“Losing that (state championship) is probably the worst thing all of us had to go through in our soccer career,” Marino said. “We just want to get back there, not just for us but for the school, for our families, for the student section, everything. They were with us the whole way and we just want to show them what we can do for them.”
Martin had a hand in two goals against Wissahickon. In the 12th minute, Marino had a throw-in deep in Wissahickon’s territory. Martin got his head on it near the goal line, flicking it into the box. Nick Hanushchak was there for the finish and a 1-0 lead.
Just three minutes after Wissahickon tied in the game in the second half, Martin found himself one-on-one with the Trojans goalkeeper, got around him and put the ball away for what proved to be the game-winner.
“We had a flick on and, bang, (the Wiss defender) just barely missed it,” he said of his 51st minute goal. “I just went right around the goalie and tapped it in.”
Kayden Sowell added an insurance goal in the 59th minute to make it 3-1.
The win improves Springfield’s record to 12-1 overall and 10-1 in the SOL Freedom standings, three game ahead of second-place Lower Moreland.
Wissahickon falls to 6-6 with the loss and 5-6 in the SOL Liberty standings.
“We’ll learn from it,” Wiss coach Stuart Malcolm said. “We’ll get back and practice (Thursday) and work on things. We’re at .500 now. Unfortunately back-to-back losses. We had won four in a row. We just have to get back to winning. They’re a good bunch. They’ll work hard and it’s all you can ask for.”
The Trojans played strong to start the second half, generating more opportunities across the first 10 minutes after the break than they did in the first 40 minutes.
In the 48th minute, Dylan Horwitz tied the game at one with a goal. He won a 50/50 ball and got another touch just before Springfield’s goalkeeper could get to the ball. His poke snuck inside the far post to even the score.
“We always talk about five minutes,” Malcolm said. “First five of the game, first five after halftime, first five after a goal, last five of the game. Those are the times, if you look at a lot of the league around the world when goals are scored, you’ll see a pattern with that.”
Both teams return to the pitch Friday. Wissahickon visits Hatboro-Horsham and Springfield travels to William Tennent.
Springfield Township 3, Wissahickon 1
Wissahickon 0 1 – 1
Springfield Township 1 2 – 3
Goals: W: Dylan Horwitz. S: Nick Hanushchak, Riley Martin, Kayden Sowell.
Saves: W: Michael Maltin 5. S: Owen Hastings 4.
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