Springfield Township fell to top-seeded Radnor 2-0 in Thursday’s District 1 3A title game. Andrew Robinson recaps all the action. Photos courtesy of Keith Clemens Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos: https://solsports.zenfolio.com/f660777489
District 1 3A final
No. 1 Radnor 2, No. 2 Springfield Twp 0
Any lingering disappointment or frustration didn’t last the walk across the field.
By the time the Spartans had relocated from their bench to the opposite sideline at Norristown’s stadium to receive their runner-up medals, they were over it. Thursday’s opportunity to win a second straight District 1 3A title had passed them over, so they were already onto the upcoming state tournament.
The night didn’t go Springfield Township’s way with a 2-0 loss, so the Spartans were ready to leave the night behind.
“We let a goal in early and that’s just rough,” Spartans tri-captain Nicholas Marino said. “It hurts your momentum, but we don’t care about this game anymore, it’s done with. We’ve got states coming up, we could see them again.
“It happens but that’s it.”
Thursday’s title match came against a now-familiar foe in the top-seeded Raptors of Radnor. In 2021, the Raptors ended Springfield Twp’s season 2-0 in the district semifinals only for the Spartans to repay the favor with last year’s 1-0 semifinal win, a pivotal moment for the program.
This year, neither team had a state title berth or their season on the line in the third playoff meeting in as many years, but chances to hoist trophies don’t come often either. While acknowledging that, the Spartans also acknowledged they’re still in the running for a bigger trophy in a few weeks.
That one, the one that eluded them last year, is now the focus.
“We lost the state final last year and today, even though we really wanted to win, I realized we’ve got another chance at states no matter if we won or lost,” tri-captain Riley Martin said. “Losing sucks, I really wanted to win this game and go back-to-back, but we need to realize and what we’re going to do is come back because we’ve got another game to play and we’re going to fight to get to that state final.”
Radnor showed early it planned to lean on its robust defense. Everywhere Martin went, it seemed Radnor’s Commerce Fisk was only a step or two behind, man-marking the Lafayette-bound striker.
Michael Savadove led the rest of the Raptors getting bodies behind or around the ball, and Radnor was quick to send an extra defender when certain Spartans were on the ball. Every Springfield Twp set piece drew loud calls from the Radnor bench about who to mark and the quick pressure of the ball came when certain players were trying to make moves with it on their foot.
“That was the toughest, to have to change our ability due to how they were playing us,” Martin said. “I think what we definitely could have done better, there were times where we did possess the ball but today was more of a ‘get the ball up the field, get it at somebody’s foot and let’s work.’
“I wouldn’t say they stopped us, because we definitely had chances, but we kept getting unlucky. The physical aspect, they definitely had us there.”
Radnor grabbed an early goal seven minutes in when Nate Lucchesi finished a cross with a header off a quick transition of the field after a defensive stand.
“Letting in that goal early, it felt like we shut down,” Marino said. “We have to keep our mentality in that moment. We work hard, we don’t stop. We’re down 2-0 and we’re still working hard, we play to the last minute, and I know that we’ll come back stronger.
“You can’t gain anything without losing something first, so I think we’ll be back stronger.”
The match’s most controversial moment came just past the midway point of the first half. A Spartans free kick from about 40 yards grazed between two players at the edge of the box and took a bounce toward the goal line where Martin and Raptors keeper Jake Barber both went for it.
As Martin stuck a foot out, Barber went to gather the ball but as he turned to his left, the ball seemed to come loose just as Martin reached him. The two players did make contact, the ball popping up for Martin to nod in off his head, leaving the senior to think he had leveled the score.
However, the center official called a foul for the contact with the keeper, wiping the would-be equalizer off the board.
“They said the goalie had possession of the ball and I bumped into him, which, I don’t agree with at all but that’s the decision,” Martin said. “I was there, working hard and that’s all I can ask for.”
Even after the goal was taken down, Springfield had chances. Radnor needed a sliding intervention from a defender to clear a Martin shot off the line and another free kick deep in the Raptors end was only thwarted by an offside call.
Spartans coach Dan Meder did sense the disappointment in his group, but also saw a collection of players ready to start working for Tuesday’s first round PIAA match.
“That’s the end of one tournament but the beginning of another tournament,” Meder said. “They
have the ability, and even when we came out at halftime down, we really thought we were going to go out and get a goal.”
Radnor’s Andrew Marino doubled the lead with a terrific individual goal nine minutes into the second half. It didn’t deter Springfield Twp, which was bombing balls into the Radnor box into the final minute, it just wasn’t their night to get anything from it.
“This group’s resilient,” Meder said. “We had one loss during the season, and we came back better. Maybe we’ll come back a little better again to enter this next phase.”
Martin said there’s a lesson to be learned in a loss. If there was any doubt of the Spartans’ motivation, they left it in the chilly air around their bench at Norristown, free to go anywhere it wanted except back home with them.
“What we gotta realize is, we need to get our act together and we will,” Martin said. “We really wanted to win, it happens. I’m not going to dwell on it, we’ve got a state game to win.”
The Spartans (18-2-1, 14-1-1 SOL) will face District 12 champion Archbishop Ryan in Tuesday’s first round at a site and time to be determined.
RADNOR 1 1 – 2
SPRINGFIELD TWP 0 0 – 0
About the Author
