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ERDENHEIM – Tierney Carabba’s uniform was covered with mud.
Springfield’s senior forward didn’t mind a bit. The Spartans huge 2-1 win over archrival Christopher Dock in Thursday’s District One Class AA Tournament second round game more than compensated for a little mud on her uniform.
“This is so big,” Carabba said. “Last year we actually lost to them, so they’re the ones that took us out of the playoffs, so this was our revenge today.”
Carabba had more than a little to do with the outcome.
It was her goal eight minutes into the first half that set the tone. It came when the senior forward - displaying remarkable poise – was there for the follow of a ball off the goalie’s pads and calmly flicked it into the cage, giving the Spartans a 1-0 lead.
“Actually, for most of the game, we were trying to hit the ball, and when you swing, you mess it up,” Carabba said. “That time I got the ball on my stick and flicked it, which my mom tells me to do all the time, but I never do it.
“We knew coming out here in this intense of a playoff game we had to score first and set the tone for the rest of the game.”
The Pioneers rallied to knot the score on a goal by Hannah Loux midway through the half, but the perennial BAL power never found its stride on Springfield’s grass field that was showing the effects of several days of rain.
“It was really tough,” Loux said. “We’re so used to playing on turf, so it’s a transition. You can see this field is definitely slanting downhill.
“It’s hard. It was so muddy that you were slipping and falling. Both teams were at a disadvantage.”
While the Pioneers never looked comfortable, the Spartans did, although they took their share of spills as well.“The first time when I went out to fly on a corner, I slipped two times,” Carabba said.
“I think it worked to our advantage since they’re a turf team,” teammate Ali Roy added.
Both Carabba and Roy played a role in Springfield’s strong corner defense, which never allowed the Pioneers to generate much offense off their nine corners.
“We were just so pumped,” Roy said. “We knew we were a better team, and we wanted it more than they did.
“They’re fast, they have quick passes, and we knew we had to keep our sticks down and be ready at all times.”
Springfield coach Linda Nixon acknowledged that some thought had been given to switching the venue to Plymouth Whitemarsh’s turf field.
“We have a bunch of seniors, and this is their last game here, so they really wanted to play it here,” the Spartans’ coach said. “We play well on turf, so it wouldn’t have mattered much. I just wanted it to be a good game because I knew they were going to be really good.”
The two teams went into halftime deadlocked 1-1, but the Spartans clearly had the better of play in the second half. They took a lead they would not lose when Elise DiFilippo (Maureen Leis assist) scored at the 18:13 mark.
The Pioneers did not go down quietly. They drew five second-half corners, including two in the game’s closing minutes.
“It was really intense,” Carabba said. “They got so many corners, and every time I just thought to myself, ‘Oh my gosh, let’s just get it out.’”
“We knew they were a good corner team, but we had to stay composed,” Roy said.
The Spartans won despite the fact that one of their top players – center midfielder Kierstan McLennan – was watching from the sidelines.
“She was fine all day, she came down to get changed and her patella subluxed,” Nixon said. “We’re young, and we don’t have a lot of depth.
“We just switched people around.”
Laura Campbell, who is just coming back after an illness, was inserted into the lineup and provided a steady replacement.“They did what they could,” Nixon said. “I really thought the kids gave it a big effort today.”
The Spartans have earned a berth in the district semis where they will face the winner of Friday’s Villa Maria/Springfield (Delco) contest. They are assured at least two more games as three of the four teams remaining will earn a berth to the state tournament.
“We want to win it all,” Carabba said.
SPRINGFIELD 2, CHRISTOPHER DOCK 1
Christopher Dock 1 0-1
Springfield 1 1-2
Goals/Assists: Dock – Hannah Loux 1-0. Springfield – Tierney Carabba 1-0, Elise DiFilippo 1-0, Maureen Leis 0-1.
Shots: CD-8, S-19.
Corners: CD-9, S-7.
Saves: Sam Ferrier (CD) 7, Maggie Olson (S) 15.
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