It was a rough day for the SOL in District One lacrosse action as both Souderton girls and Central Bucks East boys fell to Springfield-Delco. To view photos of the CB East/Springfield boys’ game, please visit the Photo Gallery.
#4 Springfield-Delco 12, #9 Central Bucks East 6
CB East could not overcome the seven-goal outburst by Lucas Spence and fell to No. 4 seed Springfield (Delco), 12-6, in a District One semifinal game at West Chester Henderson.
The Cougars opened up a 3-0 lead after one quarter and went on top 6-1 before the Patriots made it an 8-3 game at halftime. Springfield stretched its lead to 11-4 after three quarters on their way to the convincing win.
Junior attack Owen Griffin was the lone bright spot for East after scoring five goals and assisting on another.
"The kid's a stud," said senior midfielder Jack Auteri of his teammate. "You give him a chance to get his hands free and he's one of those guys you can trust to put it in the back of the net when he gets his shot. So it was great to have that today. Unfortunately, we didn't really have it to help him out."
Matt Vetter had three assists, and Ryan Brown added a single goal to close out the scoring for the Patriots.
Griffin also led the Patriots with six ground balls to go along with one forced turnover. Bryan McIntosh had three ground balls and two forced turnovers, and Vetter added a pair of forced turnovers. Dustin Buchanan had two ground balls and one forced turnover. Mike Eveland and Matt Krumanacker both had a pair of ground balls while Kevin D’Andrea, Austin Prime and Logan Nelson both had one ground ball.
East goalie Sean McGovern recorded nine saves.
The ninth-seeded Patriots (18-3) will play No. 6 seed Radnor in the district consolation game on Thursday at Henderson at 4 p.m. They begin play in the PIAA state tournament on Wednesday, May 27 at either the District 2 or District 11 champion.
Central Bucks East 0-3-1-2—6
Springfield-Delco 3-5-3-1—12
#9 Springfield-Delco 14, #12 Souderton 5
Not a whole lot went Souderton’s way in Tuesday’s playback game at Springfield. Emily Santana scored off the opening draw for the Cougars, and it turned out to be a preview of things to come. The senior midfielder, a Rutgers commit, scored the first five goals to spot the Cougars a 5-1 lead. Krista Schneider – who finished with four goals – accounted for the Indians’ lone goal in that span.
It was a 5-2 game after Schneider’s second goal with 1:28 remaining in the half, but the Cougars closed out the half with a pair of goals in the final minute to go into the intermission with a 7-2 lead.
“We always think about what we could have done better, and it would have definitely been the turnovers and coming out a little stronger,” Schneider said. “We all thought we were ready to come out, but it just wasn’t our day.”
The Cougars reeled off three straight goals to open the second half, going on top 10-2 and prompting coach Kelly Kelly to call a timeout.
The Indians responded with three straight goals. Schneider connected on back-to-back goals, the first with an assist from Natalie Bulgier and the second on a free position. Ally Sonn’s goal – with Bulgier’s third assist – made it a 10-5 game midway through the second half. It turned out to be the Indians’ last hurrah.
Santana finished with eight goals and two assists in an overpowering effort.
“She has a great crease roll, and she’s definitely a solid player down low,” Kelly said. “She was getting underneath us several different times, and we just weren’t able to step in front of her and deny her and keep her out.”
The Indians (18-5, 9-1 SOL) closed out their most successful postseason run since they last advanced to the quarterfinals in 2004.
“I’m very proud of where we got this season,” Kelly said. “This is the furthest that a Souderton team has been in years. The girls worked really, really hard, and they earned their spot in these playoffs.”
Kelly Williams turned away six shots in goal. She was one of eight seniors who played their final high school game.
Souderton 2-3—5
Springfield-Delco 7-7—14
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