Springfield Township lost a heartbreaker in double overtime to Cathedral Prep in Saturday’s PIAA 3A state title game. Andrew Robinson recaps all the action. (Photos courtesy of Andrew Robinson)
PIAA 3A State final
(10-1) Cathedral Prep 3, (1-2) Springfield Twp 2 (2 OT)
It wasn’t supposed to end this way.
All season, Springfield Twp’s mission was to get back to the state title game and finish the story by winning it. A year ago, they’d fallen crushingly short, and even this fall, losing in the district title game didn’t deter their ambitions.
Not all stories have a happy ending, and five minutes into the second overtime, it was Erie’s Cathedral Prep that had the moment of joy at the Spartans’ expense.
A rebound goal lifted the Ramblers past Springfield Twp, leaving the SOL’s Freedom Division champions shellshocked as they fell a goal short for a second straight year.
“They are family, they are like my family,” Spartans captain Riley Martin said. “We’ve been here twice, and we lost twice. We feel like we lost everything.
“It means so much to us. This team means so much to me and I’m so sad I have to let it go.”
The final match of the 2023 PIAA season was a thriller from start to finish, the Spartans going back and forth with the Ramblers as both sides exchanged chances. From corners to free kicks, bursts of speed on counters and chances around goal, it was the kind of game worthy of a final.
It also meant whichever team lost was going to feel the hit.
“It was an amazing accomplishment to get back here,” Spartans coach Dan Meder said. “We’re reeling right now, but when we look back on it, we’ll realize how incredible it was to be here again.”
Springfield Twp scored first, but it took nearly the entire first half to do it. Kayden Sowell had just missed out on a cross finding Martin earlier in the half, but when the winger hit one back across goal with 2:36 left in the half, there was nothing between him and Martin’s head finding the back of the net on the other end of the serve.
The Ramblers tied the game with 28 minutes left in regulation, but the support from the Spartans’ community didn’t waver. The team’s section of bleachers was packed from front to back, another robust show of support that’s been a constant at every stop of the postseason run.
“They bring us hope,” Martin said. “Them being here, them driving two hours to be here is excellent. I couldn’t have asked for a better school or classmates.”
Even with his players trying to come to grips with the end of the game, Meder made sure to lead the group over to the fans and salute them.
“The community has really rallied around us, I can’t get over how many people showed out here tonight,” Meder said. “They were loud, they were yelling, and they were awesome. That’s why I told the boys, let’s go clap for the fans.”
Martin added an assist in the second half, the senior laying out to put a ball across the front of goal off a throw-in, giving Harry Bates an opening to make a sliding touch that gave the Spartans a brief 2-1 lead.
However, Cathedral Prep got the goal right back, converting a header off a free kick that was essentially from corner kick range.
The chances didn’t stop for the remainder of regulation or the first overtime. Owen Hastings made two key stops late for his team and it was all the keeper could do to make the first stop in the second overtime before the Ramblers cashed in on the rebound.
“These guys are all heart, they left everything they had on the field,” Meder said. “They gave it everything they’ve got, and sadly, it didn’t go their way.”
Martin is off to Lafayette next year, but he expressed disappointment that his senior teammates who aren’t playing at the next level didn’t get to experience a last win. For the group coming back, one that still has its share of talent left over, the senior wants to see them finish their story.
“There’s a lot of hope. I hope that they make it back here because they have the talent to do that,” Martin said. “I want them to come back here and win a state title for the high school.
“This (experience) is going to help me – as a player, it just grew me. I have grown so much from when I was a freshman to now and to just experience that here, it was great.”
Springfield Twp closed out its successful season with a 21-3-1 record and an SOL Freedom Division championship.
CATHEDRAL PREP 0 2 0 1 – 3
SPRINGFIELD TWP 1 1 0 0 – 2
Goals; ST – Riley Martin, Harry Bates
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