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Since the world came back from Covid, there hasn’t been a better public school rivalry in the greater Philadelphia area than Radnor vs. Springfield.
That timing has coincided with the Raptors’ stranglehold on the PIAA championships. Radnor has claimed four straight state championships, which is ironically three more than it has District One titles in that time. The most persistent pain in Radnor’s side in that time has been Springfield. While the Cougars haven’t upended the Raptors when it matters most, Springfield’s the only Pennsylvania public school team to beat Radnor more than once since 2021. Marple Newtown‘s done it once, and that is the extent of the Raptors’ losing to PIAA public schools in that time.
So when the teams renewed acquaintances in a showdown at Radnor on Tuesday night, it came as a surprise to exactly zero people that the game finished as a one-goal thriller yet again. Radnor continued its regular-season dominance over the Cougars with a taut 7-6 win, highlighted by eight saves by freshman goalie Teddy Curry and three goals from senior Mount St. Mary’s signee Sawyer Smith.
The Latest Salvo in a Major Rivalry
“It’s surreal,” Smith said. “It’s amazing to play on Encke against them, huge rivals, and get the win. (This rivalry) is all I’ve ever known. I’ve had two brothers come through the program and it’s been this way ever since. It’s just two top public schools, battling it out to see who’s the best one every year. Hopefully we get to see them again this year because it would be a great matchup.”
Set your watch to that rematch happening at least once. The teams have played in the postseason every year, with Springfield holding a 3-1 advantage in District One play. The Raptors won the teams’ lone state championship matchup in 2023.
Curry Spices Up Rivalry in First Start
All nods to history aside, this one was more about the arrival of a player making his first appearance in the rivalry. Curry, making only his second career start, shined bright for the Raptors. The lefty didn’t look fazed by the big-game atmosphere at all, calmly tossing aside shots from some of the top players in the state without any hesitation. Radnor’s goalie situation has been somewhat of a revolving door early on with a few players trying to stake their claim to the role. After his performance against the Cougars, it seems like the crease belongs to Curry until further notice.
“I was just so excited to get the start,” Curry said. “I knew it was going to be a tough game, but the guys in front of me made my job easy. Coming into it, we’re just making sure we’re sound defensively, knowing our matchups and knowing what we have to do. The guys in front of me did a great job. I had one save early on stick-side high that really calmed me down and helped settle the nerves. It’s kind of hard not to be nervous because this was the biggest game of my life. I grew up watching games here and we had a game two years ago when we won in overtime. It’s just such an awesome environment.”
Raptors Claw Back
Indeed it is. Springfield looked primed to blow the game wide open when it strung together a 3-0 run in the second quarter. That came on the strength of two goals from senior Maryland signee Pat Flaherty and one from Ty Henderson, who also set up one of Flaherty’s goals. True to form, though, the Raptors made the adjustments they needed, putting together a 5-0 run and not yielding a goal from late in the second quarter to a minute left in the fourth quarter. Junior attackman Tommy Goldstein was at the heart of the Radnor offensive run. The Cornell commit tallied up a goal and an assist in that stretch after scoring one earlier in the game.
“I think we just focused on ourselves,” Goldstein said of the comeback. “We knew our defense was going to hold us up and we just needed our offense to start clicking and we did that.”
Let’s run it back next month… and maybe the month after that.
Radnor vs. Springfield Standouts
Jake Barber ’25, defense, Radnor (Pa.) – Tampa
Barber seemed like the ringleader of a well-orchestrated Radnor zone defense. The 6-2, 190-pounder knew when to press on the edges and when to fall back. He’s got a good first step that allows him to make up distance in short areas. Barber was also very active on ball and made life miserable for Springfield’s ball carriers when they dared to take a step to probe the middle of the zone. He was also very vocal in communicating with his teammates and grabbed a couple of impressive ground balls for the Raptors.
Brian Delaney ’25, defense, Springfield (Pa.) – Lehigh
It didn’t take long to notice No. 6 on the field for the Cougars. The future Mountain Hawk was seemingly everywhere on the field and usually taking the ball along for a ride. Early, he hit a perfectly-timed trail check on a partial Radnor breakaway to break up what seemed like a sure goal. Delaney landed a nasty rusty gate on the wing later in the game and made things extremely difficult for any ballcarrier that went near him. Delaney is a long, athletic defender with a terrific stick.
Pat Flaherty ’25, attack, Springfield (Pa.) – Maryland
Radnor’s zone defense gave the Cougars problems all night, but Flaherty’s quickness and toughness around the cage proved to be an antidote for many of Springfield’s offensive issues. He finished his first one of the night in traffic in front, taking a hit in the process. Flaherty’s second goal came in an unsettled situation where the Cougars won a substitution matchup. It allowed him some open space to turn on the jets to beat the defense outside and get to the middle to finish inside. Flaherty finished off his hat trick off of a quick passing play from Brad Barber (Maryland) and Ty Henderson, where the future Terp snuck inside and buried his third.
Billy Henderson ’25, LSM/defense, Springfield (Pa.) – Penn State
There can’t be many better defensive duos in the PIAA than Henderson and Delaney. Henderson is a force on the back end, particularly with his ability to slide effectively and cause turnovers. The future Nittany Lion had a really impressive sequence early where he took the ball away near the midline, smoothly knocked the ground ball to himself and led transition the other way. Later, he crashed down hard on a slide to take the ball away at GLE when the Cougars really needed to get the ball back.
Sawyer Smith ’25, midfield, Radnor (Pa.) – Mount St. Mary’s
Smith’s such an interesting player because he has a massive frame for a midfielder and a nice shooting stroke. On the flip side, he also showed some impressive quickness and agility on the game-winning goal. He turned a defender inside out at GLE and dunked home a high shot, showing footwork that you generally wouldn’t expect from a 6-3, 185-pounder. Earlier in the game, he showed off his shooting range off of sweeps, including one where he stopped and hammered home a high-to-low blast. Smith posted 20 goals and 17 assists last year, and it looks like he could blow past those numbers this season.
