Springdale surges past Winchester Thurston to win 1st WPIAL soccer title in 15 years

By: Ted Sarneso
Thursday, October 31, 2024 | 9:39 PM

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How fitting that on Halloween night, it was the team clad in orange and black that earned the victory and its first WPIAL championship in 15 years?

Top-seeded Springdale scored three goals in six minutes to break a second-half tie and defeat No. 6 Winchester Thurston, 5-3, in the WPIAL Class A championship game at Highmark Stadium in Station Square.

“It’s so nice to represent my school and be known as one of the players who brought home a WPIAL trophy,” said senior forward Briana Ross, who had two goals on the night.

“I just love being at this school, having the community with our awesome student section, our awesome parents and boosters that helped us to get to this dance.”

Added senior Carissa Walsh: “It feels amazing. We had the feeling that we could do anything this year. We just had to put our hard work behind it.”

Walsh added a pair of goals, and senior Molly Hurley scored another. Ross, Hurley and Tessa Derringer had an assist each for the Dynamos, who did most of their damage in the second half.

Winchester Thurston (15-6) opened the game aggressively, pinning Springdale (17-1) in its own end for five minutes.

The pressure got to the Dynamos as junior midfielder Hailey Marchlewski gave a foul and set up Bears senior Meredith Snyder for a free kick.

Setting up from 30 yards, Snyder blasted a shot that floated high and out of the reach of Springdale keeper Baileigh Haas.

“I thought we started a little slowly and there were nerves, as to be expected,” said coach Marc Bentley. “ It was so hard to communicate anything from the sideline because of how loud it was.”

Shortly after the Winchester goal, Ross felt the urgency to get her team on the board.

“I knew we were down one goal early and felt if I don’t score here, I’m never going to score in this game,” Ross said.

Walsh intercepted a Bears pass at the top right of the 18-foot box. She passed to Derringer, who sent the ball to Ross in the middle.

Ross made two outstanding moves, leaving Bears defenders looking at clouds of dust, and buried the shot dead center, nearly clipping the crossbar to tie the game 3 minutes, 43 seconds in.

Ross explained what she was thinking.

“I wasn’t thinking. I just ran as fast as I could to get the ball into the goal,” she said.

Winchester Thurston answered with its second goal at 19:55 as Nora Coen-Pirani put a ball on frame that deflected off a Springdale defender’s leg and into the net.

At 26:53, the Dynamos got the equalizer as Ross cashed in her second goal off a corner kick. With a scrum of players in front, it was bewildering that the ball was never touched.

“That’s like my third goal this year off a corner,” Ross said, “I was so surprised that went in right there, especially because I’ve played with their goalie before and I know how good she is. I was so happy when it went in.”

The first half came to a close with the teams tied 2-2 and the Bears up in shot attempts 7-6. The Bears also led 4-3 in shots on goal.

“Since the beginning of the game, we were fighting to get back in it,” said Ross. “It was probably the most pressure I’ve felt all season because we knew what they would bring. For the team to come back and win it for ourselves and the school is really nice.”

“I think we really did need halftime to reset ourselves. It was more about mentality than anything else,” shared Bentley. “We stayed composed and knew we just had to make plays to win.”

The Dynamos finally got their first lead of the night when Ross found Walsh streaking down the middle in transition. Walsh brought in the through ball and buried it to the left of Maeve Dever at the 51:16 mark.

Springdale added to its lead four minutes later when Marchlewski stole the ball at midfield, drove down the right side and put a shot on net that went through the hands of the keeper.

Being in the right place at the right time, Hurley was on the doorstep and tapped the ball in for the two-goal lead.

“They had one goal that fell out of Maeve’s hands, which was unfortunate,” said Winchester Thurston coach Jason Snyder. “They’re a very quick transition team, and we knew that the game was going to be won or lost in transition. Today, we lost in that area. Both Walsh and Hurley are great at slicing in from 18 feet out.”

The Springdale barrage continued when Hurley found a crease in the Bears defense and got the ball over to Walsh, who pushed it to the right of Dever for her second of the night.

“Our defenders are formidable and this was probably the stiffest competition they faced all year,” said coach Snyder. “They weren’t scored on a lot this year. I’m proud of the goals we scored and we were very close.”

The Bears got another goal from Meredith Snyder off a kick with an assist from Margherita Memoli at 72:35.

“It’s a tough pill for us to swallow,” coach Snyder said. “We love this game and care about each other. One of the core principles we focus on is resiliency and always being able to do the best we can.”

For Springdale, it was a night to celebrate, but with the knowledge that the PIAA playoffs are just around the corner.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” said Bentley. “I’m so proud of the girls. We won this tonight. We can be happy and celebrate. I might give them the day off tomorrow, but then it’s back to work on Monday.”

Springdale will face District 5 runner-up Conemaugh Township in the first round Tuesday at a time and site to be determined. Winchester-Thurston will play District 9 champion Karns City.

Tags: Springdale, Winchester Thurston