Springfield Twp came up just short in its bid for a District 1 2A title. Andrew Robinson describes all the action. Pennridge advanced to Saturday’s District 1 4A title game, and CB East remained alive for a state tournament berth. Springfield/VJM photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos. (CB South photo courtesy of Mike Tait/CBSouth soccer) CLICK HERE to go directly to Suburban One Sports’ GIRLS’ SOCCER GALLERIES.
Class 2A Championship
No. 1 Villa Joseph Marie 3, No. 3 Springfield Twp 2
Murphy McGranaghan held it together until she couldn’t.
The Springfield Twp senior, a tough-as-nails defender and one of the team’s three co-captains, had spent nearly five minutes extolling the multitude of positives about her team, her teammates, her coaches and the run the Spartans had gone on this
fall. Then, as she rounded back to sum up what this group meant, the emotions hit her again but she’d said more than enough.
On Tuesday night, McGranaghan and her teammates went toe-to-toe with a Villa Joseph Marie program that has a trophy case stuffed to the gills with district and state championship trophies, and while they might have come up a goal short, they left no doubt about who the Spartans are.
“This was my favorite season ever,” McGranaghan said. “This was the best group of girls. It was just so much fun.
“This was our most successful season in so long, it was just the best experience I could have asked for from my senior year.”
The Spartans had been seeking their first District 1 title since 2021, when they also won in Class 2A and moved on to the state playoffs. This year, it took a terrific goal from VJM senior Taylor Houtz to send Springfield Twp home, the unfortunate nature of the smaller classification brackets only sending one team on to the PIAA bracket.
There wasn’t much more the Spartans could have done but that didn’t lessen the punch to the gut that Houtz’s goal, which came at the end of a scramble following Aubrie Windish dropping a free kick right into the mixer in the box, left with 2:09 remaining in regulation.
What it won’t do is take away the history this team made. For the first time in program history, the Spartans won an SOL
title, going 9-1-0 in the SOL Freedom for an outright division crown.
They also won seven games against teams in Class 4A and had a seven-match win streak prior to Tuesday’s defeat.
“I think it’s a season to remember, definitely,” McGranaghan said. “It’s a season for the girls in this group to look back on and a season to compare to. This is the goal, they already said over on the bench ‘we’re coming back.’”
All fall, the majority of the highlights belonged to the team’s underclassmen. Freshman Karter Brady was superb all season, scoring 26 goals and assisting 18 others as part of a hydra-like front line that features sophomores Liz Hanushchak and Ava Brnich on her wings that for most defenses meant stopping one only brought two more to take her place.
Brady had some chances on Tuesday, the skilled first year coming just wide of the far post late in the first half while Brnich and Hanuschchak drew plenty of fouls against the Jems’ defense.
The midfield worked just as hard and provided both goals with Karly Hartman and Julia Guicheteau both scoring off corner kicks in the second half.
At halftime, the Spartans found themselves behind 1-0 which given their run of form to end the regular season, wasn’t something they were used to. VJM had taken the lead when Grace Cornett, who had two goals overall, poked in a close-range finish after a rare breakdown defensively failed to clear a ball out of the box with 2:29 left in the first half.
“We knew we still had a chance and we knew we were still in it,” McGranaghan said. “We knew one goal didn’t define us. We had so much energy still and everyone just wanted to keep going.”
McGranaghan and fellow captains Anna Hendrzak and Caitlin Lewis did as they’ve done all year and led from the back, the team’s leaders doing the unheralded work on defense to let their younger teammates go to work up top. June Kirk, the fourth piece of Springfield Twp’s back line, played an outstanding game on Tuesday and goalkeeper Olivia Gatewood came up with a number of massive saves including putting a palm on a rocket by Houtz that seemed destined for the upper 90 in the second half.
McGranaghan also made sure to give second year coach Chris Tomarelli credit for the team’s success this year. Tomarelli took over just weeks before the season last fall and while the Spartans didn’t have a great record, the players knew they were building something.
With a full offseason together – and for the first time in the seniors’ careers – a second year with the same coach, Springfield had an idea they were in for a special season as early as summer league.
“Chris really stepped up for us,” McGranaghan said. “We didn’t have a coach a week before preseason last year and he stood up and stuck with us. Last year was rocky but not because of him, we were rebuilding but he knew the whole time and kept telling us we were getting here and we did.”
If there’s one thing the Springfield Twp community has shown the last few years, it’s that if there’s a big game, they will show up and show out. The Spartans, many of the girls having been part of raucous student sections during the boys’ soccer team’s playoff runs in recent seasons, had a robust showing in the Hatboro-Horsham stands on Tuesday.
With the boys’ team lining a fence across the field from the bleachers, the girls took both of their goal scoring celebrations right over to the students with each bringing several clouds of baby powder launched into the air.
“The encouragement was insane, there were so many Springfield people here tonight but also non-Springfield people, we had people from other teams coming out for us,” McGranaghan said. “It was a great environment and it’s fun being on the other side and encouraging the boys, but when you’re on the field and they’re doing it for you, it’s surreal.”
Both Spartans goals were testaments to not giving up. On the first, Hartman ran in on the initial corner service and challenged for the ball, leading to it not being cleanly played by either side and giving the midfielder a chance to get around it and lob the tying goal into the net.
It wasn’t too dissimilar on the second, as Hanuschchak lobbed a ball into the box that, despite some physicality in the fight for it, fell right to Guicheteau for the 2-1 lead with 14:02 to play.
Unfortunately, the high water mark didn’t last long as Villa Joseph Marie attacked aggressively off the tap and Houtz soon after sent a ball across that Cornett neatly put in at the far post less than a minute later.
The Spartans continued to battle, even after Houtz finally put one in in the waning minutes, but there was not one more goal left in their season. McGranaghan felt it showed that a team, even one from a small school, can play with anyone else and while the senior joked she was so laser-focused on this season to even think about anything in the future, she was pretty sure of one thing that would be happening again.
“Our team’s not used to getting this far, this is the farthest I’ve made it in my high school career,” McGranaghan said. “We got knocked out in the first round last year but this is something they want again, they’ll be back next year.”
Scoring Summary
1st Half
VJM – Grace Cornett 2:29
2nd Half
ST – Karly Hartman 20:37
ST – Julia Guicheteau 14:02
VJM – Grace Cornett (Taylor Houtz) 13:11
VJM – Taylor Houtz 2:09
Springfield Twp concluded its season with a 13-6-1 record.
VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 1 2 – 3
SPRINGFIELD TWP 0 2 – 2
Class 4A
Semifinals
No. 1 Pennridge 1, No. 5 Lower Merion 0
There’s solidarity among goalkeepers.
They wear a different uniform than the 10 teammates they share the pitch with, often vibrantly colored, play the game in padded gloves and are the only players allowed to use their hands. When a match ends, it’s usually tradition for the keepers to stand at the front of the handshake line, bringing them closest together after spending the length of the match a length of the field apart.
Two of District 1’s best goalkeepers dueled at Helman Field on Tuesday night so after they’d gone through the formalities of the postgame handshakes, they bonded in their uniqueness.
Pennridge had solved the formidable challenge of Lower Merion senior and Louisville recruit Cate Cantu once, and that was enough thanks to another sterling effort by Rams senior and Marist recruit Cece DeMoss.
“It was really nice to see the two goalkeepers exchange pleasantries after the game,” Rams coach Lucas Kriner said. “You could tell they admired and appreciated each other’s efforts, and that’s really nice to see. Both goalkeepers had really good performances.”
The Rams, who posted their second straight postseason shutout and have allowed just one goal in 270 minutes of playoff soccer, rode a first half goal by sophomore Mikayla Loux to their second district title match in the last three seasons.
Scoring Summary
1st Half
P – Mikayla Loux (Peyton Rabinowitz) 13:23
Pennridge coach Lucas Kriner on the win: “Credit to the girls for playing so well tonight. It’s a great feeling to advance and get to play in a championship. I think we preach a pretty good balance of game focus and overall perspective: one game at a time, but, undeniably, playoffs have a certain meaning in this program that I think the players love, veterans and new players alike.”
One goal is enough: “Mikayla’s goal was a composed finish on the end of some scrappy play in midfield. She read the moment so well and pounced. I am very pleased with her progress this season, and now she has another big goal on her resume. It was nice to see our attacking improve with more created chances and working the goalkeeper with attempts on frame.”
Defense in form: “Cece and the back four – Avery Runk, Addy Mills, Payton Rabinowitz and Nat Walter – had another strong outing. Their timely blocks and clearances in and around our six-yard box were crucial to our success.”
Up next: Pennridge will face No. 3 Downingtown West, the defending PIAA champion, in the District 1 title game Saturday at 1 p.m. at Haverford High School.
PENNRIDGE 1 0 – 1
LOWER MERION 0 0 – 0
No. 3 Downingtown West 2, No. 7 Central Bucks South 1
The Titans saw their run at a district title stopped by the defending PIAA Class 4A champions on Tuesday.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Charlotte Manley continued her strong postseason with the game-tying goal off a cross from senior Riley Karpinski. Unfortunately for the Titans, the Whippets would regain the lead and played from in front through the end of the match.
If there is a consolation for CB South, it would be that Downingtown West lost in this same round last season then went on to claim a state title so there would be some precedent there.
South will play for seeding on Friday when it travels to Lower Merion to settle the third and fourth seeds going into next week’s state tournament.
Scoring Summary
1st Half
DW – Cam Bayly
2nd Half
CBS – Charlotte Manley (Riley Karpinski)
DW – Liv Primanti
Titans coach Dana Cole on the match: “Frustrating game fighting back from a one-goal deficit but proud of my girls for fighting hard until the clock hit zero. (Goalkeeper) Morgan Sowash played amazing despite the score.”
Up next: CB South will visit No. 5 Lower Merion at 3 p.m. Friday in the third place match.
DOWNINGTOWN WEST 1 1 – 2
CENTRAL BUCKS SOUTH 0 1 – 1
Playbacks
No. 2 Central Bucks East 4, No. 11 Conestoga 0
Without a doubt, the Patriots had been missing something the last few weeks.
That “something” was junior Ava Mignon. The center midfielder had picked up an injury when the Pioneers topped Conestoga on Sept. 27 in an overtime thriller in the regular season and missed the next six fixtures plus the team’s first two playoff matches.
After a difficult loss to CB South in Saturday’s quarterfinal round and needing a win to continue their season against that same Pioneers team, the Patriots got back what they’d been missing and put together an all-around excellent performance against the state’s runner-up each of the last two years.
Mignon is the type of player who helps everyone else fit in the right place, the speedy junior able to patrol the entirety of the center midfield and do the work in front of the back line and below the attackers that gets everyone moving the right way. Her presence certainly showed in the result even without putting her name in the scoring book.
“Having one of captains in Ava Mignon returning tonight was huge for us in what she brings as a holding mid, in her decision making, her physicality, and her leadership,” East coach Jake Nesteruk said. “It also allowed Kiera Sleicher to get higher, and you could see such an intensity in our play in the midfield tonight with Kiera being such a presence with what she does and off the ball underneath our front line.”
As for the production, it unsurprisingly came from the duo of Mia Forney and Taylor Roumy. The dynamic juniors each tallied a brace, Roumy bookending her goals around Forney’s double efforts. Behind them it was junior Kiera Sleicher, back in best role with Mignon back behind her, pulling the strings on a pair of assists while Skylar Lipp put a perfect ball in on Roumy’s early opener two minutes in.
Tuesday’s victory also marked the 100th of Nesteruk’s tenure at CB East and if the Patriots can get him to 101 on Friday, it will also mark a sixth straight season of qualifying for the PIAA playoffs.
Scoring Summary
1st Half
CBE – Taylor Roumy (Skylar Lipp)
CBE – Mia Forney (Kiera Sleicher)
2nd Half
CBE – Mia Forney (Kiera Sleicher)
CBE – Taylor Roumy
CB East coach Jake Nesteruk on the win: “Thrilled with the result tonight but most importantly the effort, focus, and execution we put into this. ‘Stoga is always a good opponent – well prepared, well coached, and it’s a team of kids capable of winning games across all lines. But I thought we really deserved this one after a tough loss on Saturday. Our kids came out with such a good bite, and I think we matched that with execution. I loved what we did early in our build out, how we progressed the ball forward and the quality of chances we created.”
Early opener: “Taylor got us started early in this one which gave us a really good bite to how we played. A simple early back pass from Ella Roumy dropped to Skylar Lipp and then Sky got her head up and played a really good diagonal ball from right to left behind their backline with a second touch finish from T.”
Forney’s first goal: “Our second came from such a good sequence of possession and combination play between Mia Forney and Kiera Sleicher. Mia picked the ball up around right around the 40 and cut in centrally and then linked into Kiera’s feet. Kiera started to drive and the backline collapsed to pressure the ball and she just threaded a great ball in behind for Mia to finish off her first touch.”
Sleicher and Forney connect again: “In the second half, it took us a bit longer to get going but right around the halfway mark, Ella connected into Kiera on the attacking transition. Kiera turned on it, got her head up and played an early ball wide out to Mia who took it in stride, drove through two defenders and finished to extend it to 3-0.”
Roumy doubles up: T rounded out the scoring with a great individual effort where she cut across the backline, drove inside, created a window and hit a ball low and hard that found the back of the net.”
Props: “T and Mia both had lights-out nights in the final third, but underneath that I thought the quality of service they got from all over and the link- up play to support them got us through some challenging spells where ‘Stoga adjusted and made the game difficult. Ella Roumy and Mackenzie Peters both gave us two of their best performances tonight and thought Addie Langois helped us break pressure.”
Keeper plaudits: “Really glad we defended as well as we did and earned the clean sheet. (Senior goalkeeper) Aralynn Patterson had a lights out day against South on Saturday and a really composed, clean performance tonight. She’s deserving of it.”
Up next: CB East will host No. 4 seed Spring-Ford on Friday with the winning team clinching the fifth and final state playoff bid from District 1.
CENTRAL BUCKS EAST 2 2 – 4
CONESTOGA 0 0 – 0
No. 4 Spring-Ford 2, No. 8 Neshaminy 1
It’s never easy to see a season end in the postseason, but Neshaminy went out giving all it had.
Neshaminy came into the season with plenty of questions, especially after losing the Gatorade state player of the year Kylie Maxwell and her twin sister Taylor and several other keystone seniors. The season got off to a rough start too, conceding nine goals to CB East in the opener but a steady group with good leaders stayed the course.
A season-defining win over Council Rock North in late September gave Neshaminy an unlikely path to a division title and the team’s seniors made sure that was the path they took, securing a second straight outright SOL Patriot crown.
Tuesday, a slow start against the PAC champion Rams would be too much to overcome, but Neshaminy made it interesting with a late goal and were pressing for more before time ran out.
“Spring-Ford came out on the front foot and were winning balls. We made some mistakes, and good teams will take advantage of those when given the opportunity and that’s what happened tonight,” Neshaminy coach Josh Van Reed said. “Being down 2-0 at half is tough, especially deep in the playoffs. We made some adjustments, but it took some time to get a flow going.”
Scoring Summary
1st half
SF – Brynn Vickery
SF – Brynlee Williams
2nd Half
N – Bri Garyah
Neshaminy coach Josh Van Reed on the finish: “With about 20 minutes left in the game, we started to pressure more and create some chances. With 11 minutes left, Aislyn Fitzgerald found Bri Garyah who turned and quickly took a shot that found its way into the back corner. So we got one and a little momentum and a couple good chances but were unable to put another one in.”
Thanks to the seniors: “Overall it’s been a great year and a lot of that credit goes to my seniors Erin Dougherty, Aislyn Fitzgerald, Bri Garyah, Ava Hood, Nana Ofosu-Mensah, Emerson Rooney, Chloe Santangelo, Mia Stock, Cassidy Tweedie and Natalie Weidle for the time and dedication they put in every day. They work hard and are a great example for the underclassman. Our success this season was a real team effort, and it was fun to see how everyone contributed to make it work so well.”
SPRING-FORD 2 0 – 2
NESHAMINY 0 1 – 1
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