Lady Porcupines to open soccer playoffs against Diamond Hill-Jarvis

On Jan. 6, the Lady Pines and Diamond Hill-Jarvis played each other in a preseason tournament, and Springtown won 2-1.

“Beating Diamond Hill-Jarvis 2-1 earlier in the season has helped us know that we can beat them but also know that it will potentially be a close game,” said head coach Katherine Kummerfeld. “This is beneficial going into this week of practice because we know we have to train extra hard to maintain that competitive mindset so we can bring it into the game on Friday.”

The coach considers the two teams as evenly matched but said “we feel like if we play our best, we can succeed in a victory.”

Springtown finished 5-4-1 in district behind Decatur (10-0) and second-place Bridgeport (8-2).

The Lady Porcupines began the season with a three-game win streak, controlling their destiny and first place. A mid-season losing streak threatened their playoff chances until the girls rebounded in March and won district contests against Lake Worth and Castleberry.

Springtown lost its final district game against Decatur, but even that defeat was something of a victory. Decatur, the district champ, had beaten Springtown 6-1 in their first matchup, Feb. 17.

On March 10, the two teams met again, and Decatur won, 1-0.

Locking down the third seed spot was an improvement over last season, when the Lady Pines finished fourth in district and played top-seeded Gainesville. The Porcupines lost, 1-0.

Heading into this season, Kummerfeld wanted to finish no lower than third place.

“I knew that one, we had the ability to make it to the playoffs, and two, we wanted to get that higher seed to play a lower ranked team,” she said. “Since the beginning of the season, I have been stressing to my girls that our goal for the season was not only to make it to (the) playoffs, but to get a higher seed in them, and we achieved that. Trying your best to beat every team is important because every point counts in district play.”