BOYS’ SOCCER: Springfield (Montco) falls in 2OT as Cathedral Prep takes Class 3A title

By Christiaan DeFranco

MECHANICSBURG — The Springfield Spartans don’t like reruns. Or the number 2.

Two straight years, two state finals appearances, two state finals losses in double overtime.

After sophomore Harry Bates put Springfield ahead of the Cathedral Prep Ramblers with 5:52 left in regulation of Saturday night’s PIAA Class 3A title game, the Spartans appeared to have the trophy in their grasp.

But Cathedral Prep freshman James DiSanza tied it moments later, and the Ramblers rambled on to capture the crown 3-2, when Dylan Danch scored off a rebound 5 minutes into a second OT at Bobby Rahal Field to lift Cathedral Prep to its first state soccer championship in school history.

As the Ramblers erupted in celebration, with lights flashing and music playing as they embraced and ran to their jubilant cheering section, most of the Spartans lay strewn on the pitch — the same pitch where they lost a year ago — for several minutes, in disbelief at reliving the familiar feeling they never wanted to feel again.

“It’s sad, because it’s an instant replay of last year for us,” Springfield coach Dan Meder said.

Last year, it was Hershey that ended the Spartans’ hopes of state gold, 1-0 in two overtimes.

“After I scored, I thought, all we have to do is defend, play our game,” Bates said. “Maybe a couple minutes later, they go down the field and swing one in and score.

“That feeling inside when you think you’ve won it, you think you’ve done everything you could to possibly win it, and then they tie it — and then just seeing what happened at the end, it killed me,” Bates aid. “Thinking I won it at the end, and then having to deal with it after, that I didn’t. I didn’t win it. Now, hopefully, we can just be back next year.”

With the game knotted 1-1 late in the second half, Bates made a sliding finish on a cross from Riley Martin to give Springfield (Montco), the District 1 runner-up, a 2-1 lead.

“We don’t always play great, but we’ll always play the full 80 minutes,” Cathedral Prep coach Sam Tojaga said. “As soon as they scored that second goal, we just switched tactics and went three in the back and three up top. We ended up drawing a set piece, and we’ve been really good on set pieces in the playoffs. And our big freshman steps up and gets that tying goal. It’s incredible.”

The Ramblers (18-3-1), the District 10 champion from Erie, got a free kick on a foul called against Springfield’s Chase Rubincam. Johnson launched a well-placed pass to DiSanza, who headed the ball in.

In the second 20-minute overtime, Cathedral Prep got away with an obvious slide tackle as the Spartans (20-3-1) were deep in Prep’s zone. The ball trickled out of bounds, but instead of calling a foul against Prep or a corner for Springfield, the refs awarded the Ramblers a goal kick.

It set up the winning score.

Cathedral Prep’s Kwami Anim-Soumah passed from just outside the Ramblers’ box to Cameron Dunbar, who then kicked it to Handzel, who was darting up the middle of the field.

Handzel dribbled against Rubincam and unleashed a shot. Springfield keeper Owen Hastings made a diving stop, but the ball bounced directly out to Danch, who buried it high into the center of the net for the victory.

“Honestly, I gotta give it to Noah, who hit it with his left foot.” Danch said. “I was there at the right time. That was a big, huge step for me. I think I needed that throughout the whole playoffs, to be honest, but I was glad I stepped up and did it for my team. I love everybody on my team.”

Handzel led Cathedral Prep with a goal and an assist, and Martin had a goal and an assist for Springfield Township.

Springfield had several chances to win it in the first overtime, including a crossing shot on the turf by Bates that drifted just wide of the post 2:50 into the period. Cathedral Prep also fended off three Spartans corners that bounced around in front of the net.

The Ramblers found some open space and generated a hard shot late in the first overtime, but Hastings made a diving save.

“We were feeling good going into overtime, even though they had momentum,” Meder said. “We were rotating guys. We felt like we had the legs to do it. It was disappointing to let up a late goal, but we felt good going into the overtime.”

The evenly matched teams took turns possessing the ball throughout the night. Springfield Township’s first goal came with 2:36 remaining in the opening half, on a header by Martin on a brilliant ball by Kayden Sowell from the sideline. It was one of several great passes by Sowell.

Handzel tied the game 11 minutes, 37 seconds into the second half, catching up to a loose ball in the middle of the field, quickly dribbling and scooting a shot across the turf and past Rubincam and Hastings, who had come out of the net, from just outside the box.

“We wanted to come back and win it,” Bates said. “Every year, we’ve just got to try to come back, and one of these years it’s bound to happen.

“We have a great team, great coaches, a great group of kids,” Bates said. “We’ll be back next year.”

—–

PIAA Class 3A Boys’ Soccer ChampionshipAt Bobby Rahal FieldMechanicsburg, PA

CATHEDRAL PREP 3, SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 2 (2OT)

Springfield (M)          1          1          0          0          —        2Cathedral Prep          0          2          0          1          —        3

Springfield scoring: 1st — Riley Martin (Kayden Sowell assist), 2:36; 2nd — Harry Bates (Martin), 5:52.

Cathedral Prep scoring: 2nd — Noah Handzel, 28:23; James DiSanza (Max Johnson), 3:51; 2OT — Dylan Danch (Handzel), 15:00.

Corners: Springfield 9, Cathedral Prep 10.

Direct kicks: Springfield 10, Cathedral Prep 10.

Shots on goal: Springfield 9, Cathedral Prep 8.

Goalie saves: Owen Hastings (Springfield) 5, Tyler Chermack (Cathedral Prep) 7.

Records: Springfield 20-3-1, Cathedral Prep 18-3-1.

———

Email Christiaan DeFranco at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc, or visit ChrisDeFranco.com.