By Chris Goldberg
Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 6/23/13
It was the type of summer tournament championship that can serve as a catalyst for a high school program that figures to make some noise in 2014.
Springfield-Delco, in what many would call an upset, got three goals from rising junior Lucas Spence and standout goaltending from two young players today to defeat HEADstrong 2014, 6-2, in the championship game of the High School A Division at Abington Jr. High.
Meanwhile in the HS Division B finals, NXT toppled Team Philly JV, 6-2.
Springfield-Delco spotted HEADstrong an early goal and then took a 3-1 lead on tallies by Colin Blake (rising junior), Brian Todaro (rising seniors) and Spence. Dan Dickinson (rising senior) scored late in the half to make it 4-2 and Spence added two second-half goals.
In the cage, Spence’s brother, rising freshman James Spencer (four saves), and rising junior Dan Korinth (four saves), both contributed many big saves.
“My little brother and Danny stepped up,” said Lucas Spence, who earned All-EPLCA and First Team All-Central League honors this year for a team that reached the quarterfinals of the District 1 tournament. “To beat the club is nice. We’re the underdog.
“We know we’re going to be strong. We bring a lot back on defense and if the goaltending steps up like that we can win.”
Last week Springfield-Delco lost several close games in the Philly Lax Cup and failed to reach the playoffs. “We were kind of sluggish, so this was a nice on to win,” said Lucas Spence.
For HEADstrong, Bryan Mizell (Strath Haven) and Lou Harrison (Ridley) each scored. But HEADstrong never got its offense going after dominating the field to that point.
“It was a team effort,” said Springfield co-coach Austin Kaut, a First Team All-American goalie at Penn State this year for the NCAA qualifiers. “We told them at the start of the day, ‘We’re undefeated; hey let’s make it to the championship game.’
“We knew HEADstrong would probably be there. The defense played well and our goalies, James Spence and Dan Korinth played great.
“Overall, we had great teamwork and great teammates and that’s what put us over the top.”
Kaut, a key member of a Springfield-Delco team that won the Central League title and reached the District 1 finals in 2010, said the Cougars could be a legitimate challenger in 2014.
“It’s great to see a young rising team coming up,” he said. “They have a lot of senior leadership and that’s what it takes to be a great team and have a state championship caliber team.
“They have a lot of upperclassmen to show the younger players the way, and hopefully they have a successful season.”
