High School Sports |

GIRLS LACROSSE: Springfield-Montco finds stride, downs Wissahickon for share of SOL American title

LOWER GWYNEDD — Last season, it was a nice consolation but this year, it was expected.

With a talented veteran core returning, the Springfield Township girls’ lacrosse team expected to contend for an SOL American Conference title. After a quarter on Wednesday night, their title chances were in a little bit of trouble, but only just a little.

The Spartans took control in the second and third quarters, then held on in the fourth to down host Wissahickon 13-10, earning a share of the conference crown for a second straight season.

“Our sophomore year was such a building year for us,” Spartans senior Emma Yoder said. “Winning it junior year and only losing a few seniors, this year we were expecting it, just happy we came out on top.”

Springfield Township shares the SOL American with Upper Dublin, the Cardinals downing Cheltenham 15-3 earlier in the day on Wednesday. Last season, the conference was split three ways between the Spartans, Cardinals and Upper Moreland.

A 7-6 loss to Plymouth Whitemarsh on April 29 kept Springfield Township (12-5, 10-1 SOL American) from an unbeaten league season but the Spartans’ 9-7 win at Upper Dublin on April 24 kept the door open for a share of the title. But, 12 minutes into Wednesday’s game, it was a 3-1 Wissahickon (13-4-1, 8-3 SOL American) lead with the visitors not on their game.

“We needed to get used to their zone, we just played against a man against Abington, so we had to get used to what they were doing,” senior midfielder Maddie McDevitt said. “Once we found the openings and how their back row was working, we started to get more opportunities to score.”

Emma Greenberg scored on a wicked side-arm shot with 7:22 left in the first half, giving the Trojans a 4-2 lead. Back-to-back goals by Fiona Rizzo, both assisted by Samantha McDevitt, kicked off a four-goal Spartans run to end the second quarter for a 6-4 visitors lead at the break.

Maddie McDevitt, who scored the last two goals of the half, said the Spartans weren’t just satisfied having taken the lead. Yoder, committed to St. Joseph’s where she’ll join her older sister Maddie and fellow Springfield Township alum Emily Smith next year, added there weren’t any major changes, just an emphasis to maintain the level they’d found on the final six minutes.

“We focused on keeping our energy high and to keep looking for the open girl,” Yoder said. “We just kept doing exactly what we had been doing. I think we were 70 percent on the draws in the first half, so we wanted to get that up to 80 percent.”

Maddie McDevitt and Yoder were responsible for the majority of Springfield Township’s draw control wins, McDevitt adding the team looked to push the fastbreak off draw wins after halftime as another way to combat the zone defense. McDevitt paced the Spartans with four goals, the senior Catholic University recruit adding two caused turnovers and four ground balls playing both ends of the field.

Yoder, who scored twice, noted a change she and McDevitt made to help defensively. The two seniors midfielders, who play both ends of the field, were leaking out toward midfield anytime goalie Tess Talbot made a stop or the defense got a stop which was actually hurting the Spartans’ clearing game.

“We needed to help our defense,” Yoder said. “We stayed back more, ran to the ball and even if a defender got to it, we could kick a second pass and that would lead to the fastbreak.”

Springfield Township started the third quarter with three straight goals and took the period 6-2 for a seemingly commanding 12-6 lead going to the final stanza. Sophia Stehlik did all she could to try and clot the momentum, the Wiss midfielder scoring two of her team-high four goals in the third with determination to get into the defense and either score or draw a foul.

Greenberg added a hat trick for Wissahickon, the Trojans finishing the night in the No. 16 spot in the District 1-3A rankings. Tatum Ruhren played valiantly in goal, making eight saves including a couple difficult stops in close range while Lila Marciniak had two goals and Sam Farno rounded out the scoring.

Fiona Rizzo, a senior, had a hat trick for the Spartans, Samantha McDevitt tallied three assists, Amelia Price netted two goals and Olivia McCormick scored. Frankie Rizzo, a sophomore, also had a goal and an assist for the co-champs.

With eight seniors on this year’s team, the Spartans also stepped their game up with scheduling. Springfield Township faced District 1 heavyweights in Springfield-Delco, Garnet Valley and Bishop Shanahan while also taking a team trip to Florida. McDevitt and Yoder explained it may have led to more losses than last year, but it made the Spartans a stronger team.

“We’ve done so many trips and gotten so close,” McDevitt said. “There’s not really a doubt in our mind going into these games. We’re playing to win, so we’re coming into it with that mindset that we’re not thinking about losing and we’re just going to go for it.”

The Spartans held the No. 2 spot in the District 1-2A rankings Wednesday night. With the postseason starting next week, the team’s veterans want to make the playoff run that’s eluded them so far.

“In the past, we’ve choked in our first round of the playoffs but I’m really excited this year,” McDevitt said. “I think we’re more ready this year than we were in the past few years.”

Springfield Township 13, Wissahickon 10

Springfield Township 1 5 6  1 – 13

Wissahickon 3 1 2 4 – 10

Goals-Assists: ST – Maddie McDevitt 4-0, Fiona Rizzo 3-0, Emma Yoder 2-0, Amelia Price 2-0, Frankie Rizzo 1-1, Olivia McCormick 1-0, Samantha McDevitt 0-3, Shannon Silvius 0-1; W – Sophia Stehlik 4-1, Emma Greenberg 3-0, Lila Marciniak 2-0, Sam Farno 1-0.