Quick-strike Spring-Ford gets to states at Radnor’s expense

ROYERSFORD >> SpringFord put its spin on the United States Postal Service’s motto Saturday afternoon.

Neither rain, nor chilling wind, nor a physical opponent was going to keep Spring-Ford from an appointed date with program history. The Rams overcame all that on the way to a 2-1 victory over Radnor in the District 1 Class 4A quarterfinal at Coach McNelly Stadium.

Goals by Brett Gulati and Brandon Duke in a 12-minute span of the second half were sufficient for the Rams to outlast the Raiders’ late surge. The win secured Spring-Ford’s first berth in the PIAA playoffs and kept it in the running for a district title.

To keep the roll going, the second-seeded Rams will have to dispatch Central Bucks West, the sixth seed that topped third-seeded North Penn in penalty kicks, 3-2, after they played to a 1-1 draw.

A physical game featured three yellow cards and two Spring-Ford players (Gabe Locke, Ethan Mossip) requiring medical attention as a result of the hard-hitting play.

“District soccer is physical,” coach Brent Kissel said. “It’s part of the game of high school soccer. We just try to be a possession team.”

“We knew coming in they (Radnor) were big and they like to run set pieces,” Duke added.

The Rams (15-1-3) offered a fitting answer, breaking up the scoreless duel near the midway point of the second half.

Gulati got the surge going when he connected on a shot from the right side of the Radnor goal at 22:44, Aiden Hudon getting credit for the assist. And with 4:14 left, Gulati and Duke turned a 2-on-1 situation into the ultimate gamewinner.

The seventh-seeded Raiders (14-3-2) made the comfortable lead less so when Evan Majercak, part of a scramble in front of the Ram cage, scored with 3:33 remaining. But their comeback bid was halted by Spring-Ford controlling the play around midfield while the clock ran down to zero.