By Christiaan DeFranco
After Springfield Township-Montco, a good little school nudged between Cheltenham and Flourtown, lost to Cathedral Prep on a cold, damp Saturday night in the middle of the state, the Spartans didn’t want to collect their silver medals or the runner-up trophy.
For the second straight year, the Springfield Spartans had lost in double overtime in the Class 3A state championship game.
Last year, it was a 1-0 loss to Hershey. This year, it was a 2-1 defeat to Erie’s Cathedral Prep.
Finally, as the postgame rituals continued on Saturday night, Springfield goalkeeper Owen Hastings accepted the second-place trophy and briefly held it up in celebration of what Springfield had accomplished.
The moment lasted about 3 seconds, and then the rest of the Spartans dragged themselves off the cold turf to stand up and honor their opponent’s state-gold celebration.
“In the end, when it all settles down, we’ll realize what a great accomplishment it is just to be here,” Springfield coach Dan Meder said afterward.
It was a brutal loss.
After their devastating defeat in 2022, the Spartans spent 12 months working to get back to this game and win it, yet lost again.
It was a nightmare.
Cathedral Prep could have been anybody. The Ramblers just happened to be the antagonist in this bad dream, but they could have been from Kalamazoo. They were a ghost.
You can break down what happened.
“They played quickly with the ball,” Meder said. “They had really good speed up top and good skill up top. They didn’t mess with the ball. They would drop it quickly and get it back. We were trying to do similar things, move the ball, get it out wide and serve it back into the box.”
It didn’t work out for Springfield. The X’s and O’s breakdown didn’t matter. It was only the loss that mattered.
Never mind that Springfield was prepared to go for the long haul. Never mind that Springfield had it all worked out, and even Cathedral Prep was worried.
“They were really good on the ball,” Prep coach Sam Tojaga said. “They spread us out, and especially on a big pitch like this it was really tough to cover. We ended up losing two or three guys during the game with cramps. They just couldn’t go in that second overtime.”
Aren’t all pitches the same length and width? (What was that line from “Hoosiers”?) It did seem big though. It was a big stage.
For Springfield, just don’t let this become a thing. Don’t let this loss define your identity.
Sure, Cathedral Prep won the state championship this year. And, sure, last year it was Hershey. But both of those times, guess who was in that game.
Springfield Township High School.
That’s a major accomplishment. That’s something to be proud of.
Is there something in the water in Erdenheim, Oreland, Wyndmoor and Flourtown? Why is there so much soccer talent and good coaching there?
Springfield has some kids graduating, but also will have much of its roster back next season. Whoever wins the 2024 state championship will have to go through Springfield — or maybe the Spartans will take care of it themselves.
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Email Christiaan DeFranco at cdefranco@thereporteronline.com. Follow him on X at @the_defranc, or visit ChrisDeFranco.com.
