Springfield Twp & Lower Moreland were winners in Wednesday’s District 1 3A opening round. Both advanced to Tuesday’s semifinals. File photo courtesy of Karla Donohoe: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f131331739
CLASS 3A
#1 SPRINGFIELD TWP 4, #7 PHOENIXVILLE 0
The Spartans took care of business in a hurry in Wednesday’s district opener, scoring a pair of goals in the opening 10 minutes of the contest and never looking back.
“We took advantage of our opportunities,” Spartans’ coach Dan Meder said. “The intensity was up. It’s a long season – I know it’s not physically a long season, but it’s a lot of games in a short amount of time, so it’s hard to get up for every game.
“The guys were up for it, they were ready to go, and they executed.”
The game was a rematch of last year’s district title game – a 2-1 Springfield Twp win.
“They graduated a lot of guys, but they still have really good team,” Meder said of the Phantoms. “They’re a little younger. We’ll likely have to run into that team again next year, and they’ll be good.”
Wednesday’s game belonged to the Spartans with Riley Martin setting the tone when he turned a pass from Jack McKittrick into a goal four minutes into the contest. Five minutes later, Harry Bates scored his first of two goals on the day, using a Martin assist. In the 31st minute, Justin Whang connected for a goal with an assist from Nick Hanushchak to send the Spartans into halftime with a 3-0 lead.
Late in the game, Bates scored the lone goal of the second half on a penalty kick for the 4-0 final.
Meder lauded the play of his center back in the shutout.
“Chase Rubincam was outstanding,” the Spartans’ coach said. “They had a couple of forwards that were very good – young forwards that we’ll see again if we run into Phoenixville next year. They were really, really good players, and Chase was outstanding.”
Springfield Twp (17-1-1, 14-1-1 SOL) will host #6 Holy Ghost Prep in Tuesday’s district semifinal at 7 p.m. The two teams met in their season opener, and it was the Spartans eking out a 3-2 overtime win.
Phoenixville 0-0 0
Springfield Twp 3-1 4
#4 LOWER MORELAND 1, #5 BISHOP SHANAHAN 0
The Lions scored a second-half goal and their defense delivered a shutout for a big win that sends Lower Moreland into Tuesday’s District 1 3A semifinal.
“It was a good win for us,” Lower Moreland coach Bob Barnhart said. “They had a couple of nice players up top, a couple of fast kids, a couple of kids with skill.
“We just struggled to find the net. We probably had 8-10 corners, and when you’re getting that many corners, you know you’re putting a lot of stuff on frame.”
John Kroll – a senior captain – scored the game’s only goal in the second half.
“It was through the run of play,” Barnhart said. “John Kroll was able to get on the end of one and finish.
“I felt like we had a lot of possession, and we had a lot of chances. Their goalie made some really incredible saves – from inside the 18, from outside the 18. He was probably one of the best goalies that we’ve seen all year, and he really kept them in the game. He made some saves that I don’t see too many high school goalies make. The kid was really, really, really good.”
The Lions threw some defense at the Eagles as well.
“I give a lot of credit to our senior leadership,” Barnhart said. “Our three captains – John Kroll, Aidan Linus and Adam Shiloni – had really solid games today.
“Our back line was able to keep us in a game that was close. When you win a game 1-0 and the other team has chances, your goalie has to make a couple saves. Our goalie – Keegan Courduff – made a couple quality saves. Even though he wasn’t tested a ton – when he was tested, he was there and settled us down.”
Wednesday’s win avenged a pair of losses at the hands of Shanahan in past district tournaments.
“We’ve seen Shanahan twice in the district playoffs since I’ve been at Lower Moreland, so it’s nice to get that monkey off my back,” said Barnhart. “It was nice to get a 1-0 win.”
Lower Moreland (12-7, 9-7 SOL) will travel to #2 Radnor for Tuesday’s District 1 3A semifinal.
Bishop Shanahan 0-0 0
Lower Moreland 0-1 1
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