PAC FINAL FOUR: Spring-Ford finds groove to top Pottsgrove, advance to championship

BUCKTOWN >> Kristi Holstein has learned not to worry about slow starts.

Her Spring-Ford team has grown accustomed to them this season. Tuesday’s Pioneer Athletic Conference semifinal against Frontier Division champ Pottsgrove was no exception, as the Rams found themselves in an early two-goal hole.

“I don’t typically get very nervous in the beginning, even when we’ve been playing some of the big schools,” Holstein said. “Most of our games this season have been back-and-forth. Typically, once we’re able to get in our groove, we settle down.”

Senior Jill Quigley said the Rams’ attack and midfield gathered together when they fell into an early deficit. A six-goal Spring-Ford run followed, helping the Rams take control. They did not let up, finishing off a 16-7 win to advance to Thursday’s PAC title game, where they will face Owen J. Roberts for the second time in three years.

“We just needed to settle down and be calm, focus on the way we play,” said Quigley, who led the Rams with six goals. “Just focus on our game instead of theirs.”

“In the beginning of the first half, we pulled the attack and mids together and just said, ‘Let’s settle down. Let’s clean up our passes. We got this. It’s fine.’ And then we did it.”

Neither team had an abundance of playoff experience heading into Tuesday’s contest. Pottsgrove went undefeated in the Frontier for its first division title and playoff appearance in head coach Kirstin Urie’s eight seasons. While the Rams went to the PAC title game in 2017, they missed out on the playoffs last season.

Emily Williams, Sydney Wasdick and Allie Repert put the Falcons up 3-1 less than four minutes into the first half, but it was all Rams after that. Six straight goals from Spring-Ford, including three from Quigley, gave the Rams a 7-3 lead. Quigley and senior Cassie Marte, who finished with five goals, both had hat tricks in the first half to put Spring-Ford ahead 10-5 at the break. The Rams kept at least a five-goal advantage the rest of the way.

Spring-Ford started the game a bit sloppy, dropping passes and tossing the ball over teammates’ heads. The Rams regrouped well, finishing off the game strong. Along with Marte and Quigley, goals were scored by Brenna Whiteside, Michaela Haney, Jordan Nitto, Liv Yeagle and Maleena DeAngelo.

Were there any nerves for the Rams in their return to the playoffs?

“Probably,” Quigley said.“But I think we just overcame it and didn’t show it.”

Coming off four total league wins in the past three years, this Falcons group had never played in a game like this before. Wasdick led the Falcons with three goals.

“If you look at where we were this time last year, we weren’t even playing at this point,” Urie said. “We weren’t going to the postseason. We weren’t doing anything…We’re using this as a learning experience. We’re going to take this experience that we had today, and we’re going to hopefully apply it next week when we go to districts and kind of keep progressing from there.”

The Final Four was not in place when Urie played at Pottstown in the 2000s, but she remembers the nerves of her first PAC championship playing for the Trojans. The hope is that this playoff experience will help Pottsgrove as it heads to the District 1 Class 2A playoffs and in seasons to come.

“It’s crazy,” Urie said. “You have this whole vibe because it’s the playoffs and everyone’s so excited.”
“I don’t think the girls quite understand that level they can get to yet,” she added. “I don’t know if they fully embraced the whole playoff scene yet, but it’s great that they got this far. It’s a testament to what they have done this year and these four years for the seniors.”

Despite a down year last season, Spring-Ford has held aspirations of a PAC championship since the end of last year. The Rams have been diligent in taking things one day at time, but Owen J. Roberts, the team that has won the last four league championships, has been lingering in the back of their minds.

Spring-Ford fell 15-6 to the Wildcats on April 10 and then lost 19-11 in the rematch last Wednesday. The two teams will meet Thursday at Upper Merion at 5:30 p.m.

“We just need to be a team, and we need to want it more,” Quigley said. “We believe that we can do it, so we just have to finish it out.”