Springfield Township edged Phoenixville 2-1 to capture the program’s first ever District 1 3A title at Norristown High School on Thursday.
#4 SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP 2, #2 PHOENIXVILLE 1
They’re living a dream they don’t want to end.
Two years removed from a one-win COVID-shortened season, the Spartans – thanks to Thursday’s drama-filled 2-1 win over Phoenixville – captured the program’s first ever District 1 3A championship.
“I never thought I’d be here,” said senior captain Julian Casabon-Aznar, the team’s goalkeeper. “The school has never made it to the district championship, let alone win it. It’s crazy. States are next. We’re not done, we’re going to keep going.”
“I never thought I’d be here,” senior captain Dan Fitzpatrick said. “I transferred from Penn Charter my sophomore year. I was playing on varsity, and we were 1-6-2, and I was like, ‘All right, at least I’m playing.’ The next year we went out and won our first (two games), and that was just big.”
Thursday’s game turned in the Spartans’ favor during an unusual sequence when – with the Spartans trailing 1-0 – they were awarded a penalty kick with 15:32 remaining in regulation. The Phantoms celebrated when keeper Jason O’Neill stonewalled Riley Martin’s shot, but their celebration was short-lived since it was ruled that O’Neill came off his line too soon.
“It’s very nerveracking,” Martin said of taking PKs. “They’re chirping. It’s not going to be fun. I missed it obviously.
“Thank goodness he came off his line because that would have been awful. It wouldn’t have been fun, but then we got other chances.”
The Spartans next chance was a repeat of the penalty kick, and this time it was senior captain Peter Schmidt taking the PK.
“Riley has been the designated PK taker the whole entire season, so going into the PK, I was confident,” Schmidt said. “When Riley missed – I wanted it, I told coach, ‘I’m taking that.’ I knew something was in his head, and he came up to me. We had that connection, and we agreed on it.
“My emotions – I was not nervous at all, I’m not going to lie. It might sound cocky, but I was ready for that. I knew I was going to bury it in the top corner.”
Schmidt buried the shot, and just like that, the two teams were deadlocked 1-1.
“We just thought after the save (of Martin’s PK) – mentally it would be better to let a fresh guy hit it, and Peter really wanted that second one, so that’s fine,” Spartans’ coach Dan Meder said.
With just 4:40 remaining in regulation and overtime looming, the Spartans were awarded another penalty kick. This time Martin buried it, giving the Spartans their first lead that held up until the
final horn.
“I just thought, ‘You know what, I’ve got to do it again. I’ve got to bury it this time,’” Martin said. “I ended up doing it, we win the game.”
Martin’s successful PK was not only redemption after missing the first, it also allowed Fitzpatrick to breathe a sigh of relief. It turns out the senior captain was taking responsibility for Efe Ulcay’s goal that came just over a minute into the second half and gave the Phantams a 1-0 lead.
“I passed the ball right to their striker – that goal was me,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m not going to lie, when I passed the ball to their striker in the middle, I was just about to break down.
“I was not sure what I was going to do if we lost that game. When I saw Riley go up and miss that pen (penalty kick), I wasn’t even mad – if we lose, it’s still on me. Once Peter made that second pen, I was like – ‘All right, we got it in the bag.’”
Although it looked as though the Phantoms’ 1-0 lead might hold until the final horn, the Spartans weren’t about to let that happen, rallying for the come-from-behind win.
“Honestly, I never thought I’d be here since freshman year playing varsity – we took a hard hit coming up,” Schmidt said. “Sophomore year, we only won one out of (nine) games in the COVID season. Junior year was one of the best years we’ve ever had.
“We came close, finished second in the league. We fell short to Radnor, this year we came back and beat Radnor in overtime. I could not even imagine being here with all my boys today – the fans, my teammates, my captains. A shoutout to everyone for the season. It’s just a great group of guys to be a part of. I’m very glad I got to be captain and lead this year.”
“We’re just a hard fighting team that does not want to lose,” Casabon-Aznar added. “And we will not lose.”
“I think what lets us win games is we’re so close,” Martin said. “We’re such a family that we can work hard, and we can work well.”
According to Meder, all the talk about the team’s camaraderie is genuine.
“They’re very close,” the Spartans’ coach said. “It’s been a fun group of kids to coach. They all work hard, they’ll all will do whatever needs to be done. They’ll play any position. And it worked out for us this year.”
Making Thursday’s historic district title win even sweeter was the fact that the Spartans were able to share it with a large student section that never lost faith. To show their appreciation, as soon as the final horn sounded, the players ran to the fence to celebrate with their fans.
“It’s a big group, and they travel,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s so nice to have the fan support.”
“A shoutout to all the fans for giving us support,” Schmidt said. “I don’t think we would have won any of these games in districts if it wasn’t for our fans coming to every game whether it’s in Philly or Radnor or all the way up here in Norristown. We have to shout out to our fans for always supporting us along the way, every game. We’re excited for states.”
“The school has been so excited,” Meder said. “In boys’ soccer, we’ve never won anything, so we won the league, we won districts and we qualified for states – all firsts for Springfield soccer.”
It’s been quite a season, and it’s not over yet. In Tuesday’s PIAA 3A State Tournament opener, Springfield Township will host District 3’s fourth place team, Lower Dauphin (13-7-1).
Springfield Township 0-2 2
Phoenixville 0-1 1
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