October 5, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Goals aplenty punctuate Springside homecoming
by TOM UTESCHER

For many schools, the recipe for a happy Homecoming celebration involves serving up creampuff opponents to be devoured by the good old home teams in front of gleeful alumni.

Taking a different approach, the Springside School Lions bit off somewhat more than they could chew at their Homecoming fete last Friday afternoon. Rivals from Germantown Academy rolled up convincing victories over Springside in field hockey (7-1), soccer (9-0), and tennis (7-0). A cross country tri-meet that was also on the schedule produced better news for the Lions, who lost to Episcopal Academy, 21-40, but defeated the Baldwin School, 21-38.

Coming into Friday’s cross country event, Springside was 1-1 in the Girls Inter-Ac, having lost to GA and having beaten Baldwin in the official league dual meet between the schools. In their previous league dual meets, the Baldwin Bears were 0-3 and the Episcopal Churchwomen were 0-2.

A pair of seniors led Episcopal to victory at Springside, as Julia Clark completed the three-mile circuit in 22 minutes and 41 seconds, and Paige Donaldson clocked in at 22:55. Baldwin freshman Zoe Matza finished third in 23:18, but she would be the Bears’ only runner among the top dozen in the meet.

Placing fourth and fifth to spearhead the Springside contingent were sophomore Teghan Boyle (23:36) and junior Macrina Cooper-White (23:46). The rest of the top ten was made up by a quintet of Churchwomen; Jasmine Pope (6th/23:55), Brittany Bruder (7th/24:00), Annie Spofford (8th/24:28), Anna Stein (9th/24:49), and Doreen El-Roeiy (10th/25:07).

Lions freshman Steph Sherman was 11th in 25:18, and then Springside senior Emily Winant (25:37) won a sprint for 12th place over Angela Farren (25:39), the second Baldwin runner to finish. The head-to-head score between the two visiting teams was Episcopal 18, Baldwin 41.

Also competing for Springside were junior Christina Sfedu (14th/25:50), senior Emma McClafferty (16th/25:53) and sophomore Devon Winter (17th/25:54). Lions coach Margot Pollans noted that each member of the team turned in her fastest time to date.

On the tennis courts, GA claimed its first Girls Inter-Ac victory of the season, improving to 1-2 in the league and 5-4 overall. In the top two singles spots GA was led by the Larkin sisters, with Elizabeth defeating Springside number one Julia Judd, 6-0, 6-0, while Kathleen won 6-2, 6-2 over Erica Swan at second singles. Number three Steph Asplundh overcame Jill Hardy of the host team, 6-1, 6-2, and Emily Hymen was a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Lions number four Sarah Wieman.

The first doubles bout ended at 6-3, 6-0 as Kaye LeFevre and Katie Clemm of the Patriots overpowered Jeriel Kessel and Merrill Brady. Germantown won by scores of 6-1, 6-1 at both second and third doubles. Alex Crane and Alina Czablicki knocked off Springside’s Christina Martin and Nell Sorensen in the second spot, and the Pats’ third doubles duo, Hannah Hayes and Alaina Wartman, got the better of the Lions tandem of Grace Ortelere and Natalie Bartlett. With the loss, Springside saw its league record slip to 0-3.

At the hockey and soccer fields, the visiting Patriots hushed the home fans quickly, as GA led both games by a score of 4-0 at halftime. In hockey, Springside made a few early rushes, but Patriots goalie Adrienne Ostroff (nine saves total) held the line, and then GA got on the board about seven minutes into the contest. The Patriots’ first and last goals of the half came from sophomore Molly Andrews, whose older sister Erynn was a multi-sport standout for Springside. In between, Jesse Carey assisted a strike by Becky Dobson, and Germantown’s third point came from Morey Williams, who would then earn an assist on Andrews’ second goal.

Hopes for a second-half rally by Springside were wiped out by a three-goal outburst for the visitors in the first five minutes, as Amanda Jones, Meg Cipolloni, and Maura McCarthy all cracked the Lions’ backboard. Springside was spared a shutout when, with eight minutes to go, Lions co-captain Sarah Wadsworth placed a penalty stroke in the lower right corner.

Lions goalkeeper Sara Heinze (the other co-captain) finished up with 12 saves, and Springside coach Susie Macciocca praised the performance of back MaryBeth Dougherty and midfielder Nora Langan. The high-scoring Patriots remained undefeated at 8-0-1 overall and improved to 3-0 in the Inter-Ac, while Springside was 3-4, 0-3 after the match.

A pair of early goals by Caroline Doty, assisted by Kacie Kergides and Jenn Hoy, started things off for GA’s soccer squad. Hoy deposited a goal of her own to make it 3-0, and then Kergides recorded a second assist as Kate Henrich closed out the scoring in the opening period.

It was more of the same in the second half, which began with Hoy’s second goal of the afternoon. Later in the period Henrich scored twice and Doty once as each of them completed hat tricks for the Patriots, and Kergides added the other goal in the Pats’ 9-0 victory.

In the nets, Tori Baggio turned in 11 saves for Springside (3-5, 0-3 league) while visiting keeper Alexa Gallagher only needed to make one stop to register the shutout for GA (8-1, 3-0).