Springfield’s seniors somehow salvaged a lost season

GLENOLDEN >> Positives were few and far between in the first month of the Springfield girls soccer season.

So when the first glimmer of positivity arrived in Game 11 — a win over Upper Darby Sept. 29, after a 10-game winless run — a dose of cold water wasn’t far away.

When the Cougars reported for practice the next day, they were greeted with news that first-year coach Paul Horozoglou had quit abruptly. Eleven games into a season that had already gone off the rails, a Springfield squad that entered the season harboring realistic postseason aspirations was left in a quandary as to what came next.

“I was pretty shocked when I heard what happened,” Springfield senior defender Mattie Porter said. “I did not see that coming. But I was pretty calm also because I know that our athletic director wouldn’t let us go without a coach. We have some good teachers and faculty; they would fill in for us. A lot of people were also offering their help, which was nice. If other people aren’t going to give up on us, we know that we cannot give up on ourselves.”

The coaching change proved to be a turning point for the Cougars, who finished their season last Friday with a 2-0 win over Interboro. That was their third win in six matches, including two results over District One Tournament-bound opposition, under a makeshift coaching staff that has salvaged something from what appeared destined to be a lost season. What could’ve been a difficult conversation about how to continue the season transformed into a straightforward proposition. Six games remained after Horozoglou’s resignation, and with the groundswell of empathy in the district, the Cougars were determined to continue.

When Steve Pratt, an assistant baseball coach and former football coach, got wind of the soccer predicament, he offered his services to athletic director Glenn Mallon. They soon engaged Jamie Weaver, a high school guidance counselor who is new to the district, but has coaching experience in Western Pennsylvania.

Between Pratt’s knowledge of the logistics and Weaver filling the gaps in Pratt’s admitted lack of soccer expertise, the team soldiered on.

The first step was fixing a toxic atmosphere hanging over the team like a cloud. Losing fostered some of that acrimony, but this mixture was more volatile, the combination of failing to meet expectations with a talented group that grossly underachieved. The adjustment period to Horozoglou’s reign was rocky, with the first-time high school coach replacing Lindsay Rowland, who resigned after two seasons at the end of the school year and had showed progress coxing the best from a young group.

Attempts to contact Horozoglou were unsuccessful.

“I think we were very discouraged in the beginning of the season,” senior midfielder Katie Martin said. “I don’t know, we just weren’t having fun because we were thinking too much about the game and too much about plays and strategy and the team we’re going to play. But now we go out to every game like we’re just as good as the other team, and we go out and have a lot of fun and play really well.”

The coaching change not only ushered out some of the formational strictures and tinkering that Martin alluded to. It also afforded the leaders greater freedom to take ownership of their team’s direction.

“We kind of felt like our coaches gave up on us, but it didn’t mean we had to give up on each other,” Porter said. “As captains, I think we were good with keeping the pep up and all the confidence, and just having more fun helped with that.”

That meant that when Pratt and Weaver convened their team, much of the conversations focused on tri-captains Martin, Porter and Noelle Morrissey as well as the other veterans. They would help construct the spine of the team, undoing some of the tactical changes that Horozoglou had imposed, and giving rise to a collaborative approach. Pratt and Weaver remained in charge, but only to guide the team’s leaders in shaping the team.

“It was tough at first,” Porter said. “We lost motivation, but as soon as we started talking to each other, we’re like, ‘it’s our last season. The girls are going to miss us. We won’t have this spot to try again. We just have to give it all we’ve got.’ And we did. We came out strong, and it’s amazing how we’ve been playing with our new coaches.”

The results are tough to argue with. The Cougars beat Ridley some 36 hours after Horozoglou’s stepped aside thanks to goals from Bridget Whitaker and Erin Cutcliff. The following week, they dented Radnor’s Central League title aspirations by holding the Raiders to a 1-1 draw behind a rebuilt defense that featured Morrissey, a defender by trade, sliding back into the backline after Horozoglou insisted on deploying her in midfield.

They also shunted Haverford’s momentum, using a Madison D’Ambrosio penalty-kick save and two late goals by Olivia Little to recover from a 2-1 deficit and score a 3-2 victory.

As the Cougars wrapped up Friday with the shutout of Interboro, the time was ripe for reflection. They players had a lot thrown at them this year, but the victorious, cohesive culmination to that roller coaster reserve this tumultuous season a special place in their hearts.

“I’m going to remember this season because it was the best, closest season that we’ve ever had as a team,” Porter said. “We really needed to pull each other on a rope to get us out of the situation we’re in, and I think we did it successfully.”

“Honestly, this is my favorite season just because we’ve been way closer as a team than we’ve ever been,” Martin said. “The new coaches coming in and us doing as well as we did, and I’ll remember that.”