Spring-Ford rallies past Wissahickon, into D1-3A quarterfinals
LOWER GWYNEDD >> Falling behind early in the second half may have been the best thing for Spring-Ford Wednesday afternoon.
The 18th-seeded Rams responded to the game’s first goal with a sense of urgency. The tied the game four-and-a-half minutes later and dominated the fourth quarter to beat No. 2 Wissahickon, 4-1, in the second round of the District 1-3A playoffs at Wissahickon High School.
“We just had to turn it on later in the game,” Spring-Ford’s Maddie Friend said. “We came out a little bit slow. We’re more of a second-half team. After they scored, it gave us more urgency to want to win a lot more than we were wanting to. We just wanted to play more.”
The Rams (12-8) tied the game on a penalty corner. Nina Scott inserted to Julia Corropolese, who ripped a shot right into the back of the cage to make it 1-1 halfway through the third quarter.
Corropolese and Friend teamed up for the go-ahead goal early in the fourth quarter. Scott inserted a penalty corner to Corropolese, who sent the ball toward the cage. Friend was there to knock it in for a 2-1 lead with 11:26 to go.
“It was like a 0-0 game for us and we knew we just needed one to get us started again to keep scoring,” Corropolese said. “I just shot the ball and (Friend) touched it in.”
“My coach always tells me to keep my stick down,” Friend said. “It worked.”
Friend extended the lead to 3-1 less than five minutes later. Assisted by Marissa Cagliola, Friend scored on a shot from the edge of the circle to give the Rams some breathing room.
“My dad always tells me to shoot from the top of the circle,” Friend said. “When I saw the open opportunity I just took the shot. I wasn’t really expecting it to go in, but it snuck in.”
Spring-Ford made it 4-1 in the final two minutes when Friend set up Scott to put the exclamation point on the win.
Wissahickon, which was missing a few key players, took a 1-0 lead just 3:07 into the second half. Kayla Park scored on a penalty corner, assisted by Ella Hummel. The Trojans earned four corners in the second quarter and put six shots on goal in the third, but only got one into the cage past Spring-Ford goalie Katie McCreary.
“We played our hearts out,” Wissahickon coach Lucy Gil said. “That last quarter, (Spring-Ford) came out on fire and we just had to respond and we didn’t.”
The Rams advance to the quarterfinals Friday against No. 7 Central Bucks West. The winner of that game goes to the final four and clinches a spot in states, while the loser goes to playbacks for a chance at a state berth.
“It’s really exciting for our team,” Corropolese said. “We haven’t been there for a few years. It’s good to get there.”
The loss is Wissahickon’s first of the season. The Trojans were 18-0 heading into Wednesday with their second straight Suburban One League Liberty Division title.
“They should be really proud of what they did,” Gil said. “This doesn’t happen all the time. They should be really proud of this season no matter what happened now.”
Spring-Ford 4, Wissahickon 1
Spring-Ford 0 0 1 3 – 4
Wissahickon 0 0 1 0 – 1
Goals: SF: Julia Corropolese, Maddie Friend 2, Nina Scott. W: Kayla Pak.
Assists: SF: Nina Scott, Julia Corropolese, Marissa Cagliola, Maddie Friend. W: Ella Hummel.
Saves: SF: Katie McCreary 9. W: Meredith Walsh 8.
Corners: SF: 8. W: 9.
