Late first-half stretch keys Springfield-Montco’s win over Wissahickon

SPRINGFIELD >> For the first 12 minutes of the game and the entire second half Springfield-Montco and Wissahickon looked evenly matched Monday afternoon.

It was the end of the first half where the Spartans showcased their dominance.

Springfield scored seven straight goals in a 9:44 stretch to take control before cruising to a 15-8 Suburban One League American Conference win at Springfield High School.

“I knew it was going to be a hard-fought game,” Springfield coach Maggie Canavan said. “The whole theme that’s been going on this year with my girls is they have fun and they trust each other. That’s why they put together 50 minutes and won that game.

“All season we’ve been playing as a team. We trust all 11 players on the field and our goalie and have a never give up mentality. That’s the thing we’ve been working on from last season to this season — we can get in those little holes and we know exactly how to get out of them.”

The Spartans (11-5, 4-4 conference) trailed, 3-2, before taking a 4-3 lead and eventually sitting in a four-all tie midway through the first half.

Ella Marino gave Springfield a 5-4 lead and the hosts were ahead the rest of the way. The Spartans added six more goals before Wissahickon (5-11, 3-5) got one of its own in the final minute to take an 11-5 lead into halftime.

“Everyone was having fun out there,” Springfield senior Lindsey Smith said. “This is the best we’ve looked all season. Everyone was connecting, everyone was passing well. It was just composure and everyone had fun out there.”

“I’d say winning the draw,” Wissahickon coach Jamie Kane said was the key to the game. “When we win the draw — when we possess the ball — then we’ll be successful. Defensively we actually made a few good stops, but when the ball is coming out we have tendencies to go into double and triple teams instead of pulling it out and seeing who’s available. Staying out of those doubles, anticipating what will be available and possession. Possession really killed us today. Good solid possessions — you need those to win games. When we have it we’re great. Today we just didn’t have it.”

The Trojans, however, didn’t give up. After surrendering the first goal of the second half, Wiss scored three straight to make it a four-goal game, 12-8, with 11:25 left to play.

“It’s good to see them fight back,” Kane said. “They have heart and they want to win. We are young so we have some new faces on this field — we actually have four starting freshmen. I think we have a lot of common goals and a lot of things to work on.”

That’s as close as the Spartans let it get. They scored the final three goals of the game to close out the 15-8 victory.

“We kept our heads up and we were strong and we were determined,” Smith said. “We didn’t want to back down so we were continuing and trying to move forward still.”

Emily Walsh and Smith led Springfield with five goals each. Sophia Perry and Charlotte Henry each scored twice.

“Our backdoor cuts were there and our picks,” Smith said of the offensive success. “Their defense was pressuring out and we haven’t had that all season. It was a good adjustment we made.”

Sam Intreri paced the Trojans with three goals. Abby Degroat added two goals and an assist.

Springfield entered the game No. 12 in the District 1 Class 2A power rankings. The top 16 seeds qualify for the playoffs.

“Get in and get past the first round,” Canavan said of the team’s postseason goals.

Wissahickon was No. 32 in the latest District 1 Class-3A rankings. The top 24 seeds make the playoffs, so the young Trojans appear to be on the outside looking in.