Springfield Twp defeated Villa Joseph Marie to capture the District 1 2A title Wednesday. Photos courtesy of Tracy Valko.
No. 1 Springfield Twp 3, No. 2 Villa Joseph Marie 0
Same field, same opponent, same stakes, different outcome.
A year ago, Springfield Twp saw what had been a dream season come to a halt in a gut-wrenching loss to Villa Joseph Marie in the District 1 Class 2A final at Hatboro-Horsham. With much of their roster back from last season, the Spartans approached Wednesday’s rematch ready to author a different finish and take things a step further.
With a goal apiece from their big three and a non-stop effort all over, Springfield Twp flipped the script while winning its first district title since 2021 with a 3-0 win over the Jems.
“It felt so much better,” senior co-captain and goalkeeper Olivia Gatewood said. “We worked so hard over the course of the season for this, and we really put it all into this game. I’m so happy.”
Springfield made school history last fall, winning the SOL Freedom division crown for its first-ever league title in girls’ soccer before reaching the Class 2A title match and coming a goal short in a 3-2 loss to VJM. With so many key pieces set to return, there was a lot of motivation coming into the new season to build off that prior success.
The Spartans had another strong regular season, posting a 12-4-2 record while facing a new slate of crossover games but came up a game short of repeating as division champions. For the team’s seven seniors, it was even more motivation to make sure their district bid didn’t end in the same manner.
“This game was our end goal,” senior co-captain Julia Guicheteau said. “It’s what we’ve been working toward all season and to come out and win while having one of our players score her 50th goal, it’s truly like – wow – I have goosebumps.”
When one or two of the Spartans’ dynamic attacking trio put their imprint on a game, it usually ends in a good outcome. When all three – Karter Brady, Ava Brnich and Liz Hanushchak – are dialed in for a match, it’s incredibly difficult to stop Springfield Twp in the attack.
As it played out, each one of that monster trio found the back of the net on Wednesday night. Brnich, who play
s with a lot of fire, gave her team the only goal it ended up needing when she persistently stayed with it after the VJM goalkeeper couldn’t cleanly cover her initial attempt and punched home the free ball with 23:59 left in the opening half.
“Everyone, because we all know what it felt like last year, had that piece in them that they wanted to come back and win this year,” Guicheteau said. “Truly, our entire team was a part of it.”
Springfield maintained its attacking mentality, and midway through the second half, Hanushchak opened the game up with a fantastic goal from long range off the right wing. One of 10 juniors on the varsity roster, along with Brnich, Hanuschchak has scored or assisted on plenty of goals this season, and her strike was like a second wind for the Spartans.
Karter Brady iced the game with 4:36 left in regulation, the standout sophomore cracking a milestone in the process as it was her 24th this season and the 50th goal of her young career. Last year, Brady erupted onto the scene as a high-scoring force, and her teammates embraced all that she could bring to the table despite her class standing as a freshman.
It’s a more senior and junior-led roster this year but the upperclassmen have kept the approach with any underclassmen who step on the field with them.
“We encourage them to try something new, step up, and I think that gives them the confidence to speak up to a teammate if they need something,” Gatewood said. “We always try to incorporate them in everything we do.”
The Spartans never seemed to drop much in terms of energy, senior co-captain Maddie Decker giving all the credit for that to the team’s bench; both in the reserves who got in and the very vocal girls who did not.
“We remembered how it felt last year losing and we took that to motivate us,” Decker said. “We play as a team, it’s never just one individual’s game.”
Gatewood, who is committed to play at Shippensburg, wasn’t overly troubled between the posts on Wednesday but the senior did well to cleanly catch VJM’s longer distanced shots and commanded the box well. She also got a good showing from the defenders in front of her, especially Rafaella Castillo and June Kirk – who seemed to sweep out yet another threat again and again – in the middle and Decker on the outside.
Decker also gave credit to third year head coach Chris Tomarelli as a driving force behind the program’s success. The Spartans have made the playoffs each of the three seasons he’s been leading the team ,and they’ve advanced further each fall as well.
“It allows us to play for each other and at the end of the day, play for him,” Decker said. “He’s also what got us here, this is his first time winning the district, so it means a lot we could do it for him.”
Springfield Twp will advance to the state playoffs next Wednesday where the Spartans will open against defending PIAA 2A champion Archbishop Wood, the Vikings having secured a PCL and District 12 title this fall. That game will be played at a site and time to be determined over the weekend.
It’ll be a new experience for everyone on the roster, but the seniors are looking forward to making the most of whatever amount of time they have left.
“Every single practice, every single team dinner, any time the team got together, I was more into it. I put my heart out there because we don’t have another season to play,” Guicheteau said. “When you’re an underclassman, it’s different because it’s like ‘there’s always next year,’ but this year there is no next year, so we really approach everything like we have to give this our all and leave it all out there or else we’re done.”
Scoring Summary
1st Half
ST – Ava Brnich 23:59
2nd Half
ST – Liz Hanushchak 25:25
ST – Karter Brady 4:36
Springfield Twp senior Julia Guicheteau: “Our chemistry is truly unbeatable. We have a group of girls that work together so fluidly, it’s truly amazing to be part of such a special team like this.”
–Team dynamic: “It’s the people. We do have an older team, we’ve been together for a few years, and we also did a lot of team bonding at the beginning of the school year, even in school, out of school, wherever we are, people go on food runs together, we’re hanging out away from school and the fact we got so close at the beginning of the season helped us come together as a team.”
Springfield Twp goalkeeper Olivia Gatewood: “I truly love this team, it’s like a second family to me. It’s joyous to come to soccer every day just because I get to hang out with them.”
–Final season: “As a senior, I wanted to go out with a bang. Winning this really helped with that. We’ve grown so much, it’s hard to even put into words. We’ve put in so much effort and left it all out on the field.”
VILLA JOSEPH MARIE 0 0 – 0
SPRINGFIELD TWP 1 2 – 3
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