Clutch plays late help Springfield-Montco edge Souderton

FRANCONIA >> There were a lot of big plays from Springfield-Montco on Tuesday night belonging to guys named Paul.

Whether it was junior midfielder Paul Richardson doing, well pretty much everything on both ends of the floor or senior goalie Paul Asman coming up clutch again late in a close game, the Paul and Paul show was rolling. That’s not to take anything away from their teammates, who chipped in plenty across the board as well.

Richardson’s five goals and Asman’s 10 saves helped Springfield fend off a late Souderton comeback bid as the Spartans edged the host Indians 8-7 to stay in first place in the SOL American.

“In the fourth quarter, we played well as a team and just stuck together,” Richardson said. “They were mounting a nice comeback but our defense and Paul made a couple nice saves, we were able to bring the ball down, hold the ball and that was it.”

The Spartans (7-5, 4-1 SOL American) led most of the way, but never by more than three goals in a game that was very indicative of how the American Conference has played out so far. Souderton (9-4, 3-2 SOL American) came into the night as part of a four-way tie for first with Springfield, Upper Dublin and Wissahickon, so there was plenty on the line.

If one thing has defined the Spartans’ season, it’s been close games. Richardson noted they were in one just the day before, losing to Holy Ghost Prep 12-11 and that lose really fueled their effort on Tuesday night.

Even when Souderton rallied to tie the game 6-6 in the fourth quarter, the Spartans didn’t lose their cool.

“We’ve been through too much to let shots like that bring us down,” Asman said. “We weren’t going to let that faze us. We know we have a great offense, they kept us in the game and it was just an all-around team win.”

It’s tough enough to beat a solid team like Springfield on its own but the Indians also didn’t do themselves a lot of favors with turnovers. Souderton at times struggled on clears, other times making some poor choices on offense that through the course of the game, built up.

“We made some bad decisions, some mental mistakes, some fundamental mistakes, all Day One things,” Indians coach Mark Princehorn said. “There’s a reason there’s a four-way tie in this league and a reason they’re in that discussion because they’re a good team. You make those type of mistakes against a good team, you’re not going to win.”

Richardson, who added an assist to his game ledger plus four ground balls and a caused turnover, was a general menace in every area of the field. The Spartans ask a lot of the junior, putting him on defense as well as attack, but it’s because he can get the job done.

His first goal was a off a wicked side-arm shot four minutes into the game, his second the end of a one-man clear and transition and it was Richardson who after Souderton had tied the game, un-tied it with the go-ahead goal. Princehorn has been around the game a long time and he’s seen a huge leap in Richardson’s ability in the past three years.

“He’s an all-around beast,” Princehorn said. “The growth in his game and the development of him as an athlete is tremendous. I’ve coached against him three years now and he’s done nothing but get better, bigger and faster. Anybody who watched the game knows he was the difference-maker, they had a lot of guys who played well but he played offense, played defense, killed us in the transition game.

“The kid’s got a very, very bright future at the next level. You know Division I talent when you see it and he’s a Division I lacrosse player.”

Richardson, who carved up Souderton in man-to-man defense, wanted to push the credit to his teammates. Indeed, the Spartans got a lot of help from all around the field.

Zach Coppol had the game-winner, a terrific solo goal with 3:02 left in the fourth quarter. Wilson Krewson had a key play to keep a ball alive along the sideline just before Richardson’s fourth goal, defenseman JP McGowan had a huge ground ball off one of Asman’s late saves and mid Nic Pugliese did a nice job controlling the game among others.

Asman came up with two pivotal stops after Coppol spotted Springfield an 8-6 lead. He denied a shot with about 2:30 left to keep the lead at two then, after Souderton’s Matt Rauch cut the lead to one with 1:49 left, Asman stopped another close-range shot following the Indians’ win on the faceoff X.

“We didn’t play soft, it was an away game and sometimes we come out tentative but tonight we didn’t play soft at all,” Asman said. “I talk to myself all the time and my dad is always next to me in the stands telling me to stay in it. I just keep my head in the game and stay focused.”     

Souderton, which was the No. 8 seed in the Class 3A power rankings prior to the game, still has five games left to try and play itself into one of those top eight seeds. Princehorn said despite the wash of injuries that have hit the team, the Indians’ goal is to be playing their best lacrosse in May.

“We have some things to clean up if we want to win some playoff games and make a run at districts,” Princehorn said. “A conference title would be nice, but we’ve also never won a playoff game so we have a lot of goals we set out to accomplish this season.”

The Spartans are right back at it Wednesday at Council Rock North. Springfield was the No. 6 team in the Class AA rankings and they’re confident the tests of this regular season will help them come the postseason.

“We’ve been with each other for a while now and like I said, we’ve been through so much together,” Asman said. “We’ve just been through way too much to just break down in a tough spot. We stick together through everything.”

SPRINGFIELD-MONTCO 8, SOUDERTON 7
SPRINGFIELD 1 4 1 2 – 8
SOUDERTON 1 2 2 2 – 7
Goals-Assists: ST – Paul Richardson 5-1, Zach Coppol 2-0, Brennan Fleuhr 1-0; S – Cole Witoslawski 3, Matt Rauch 2-1, Brock Azeff 1-0, Luke Halteman 1-0. Shots: ST – 24, S – 17. Saves: ST – Paul Asman 10, S – Axell Beskar 16.