Slowly but surely the Springdale girls had continued to show improvement year in year out on the soccer field.

After a rough 2004 season that saw only one Dynamo win, Springdale improved to 5-9-4 in 2005 and then 9-4-2 in 2006. Improvements like those could be expected but after coach Jerry Concannon took over last season, he oversaw a complete turnaround to a 22-4-1 season.

All of a sudden improving became a much taller task for Springdale.

Yet Springdale once again managed to one-up itself.

"It was challenging and it took a lot of thought," Concannon said of trying to motivate his team to be even better than last year.

"My assistant [Kelly Schaults] and I, we made sure that we set a system of goals throughout the season rather than just one final goal. We took steps rather than planning it out from the beginning. I thought it was a very successful season and we managed to improve ourselves as a team even though last year we had some great success."

The team showed that Springdale was not going to be a one-year wonder in Class AA. It retained its Section 3-AA title, stretching its section winning streak to 24 games over two years.

"We are hoping to continue this. I am pretty confident with the talent that we have [returning] that we can do that," Concannon said. "I think Springdale should be in that high level of Class AA teams."

Springdale returned to the WPIAL title game and the PIAA semifinals. The Dynamos' nemesis, South Park, stood in its way again, blanking them, 1-0, in both the title game and the state semifinals.

"The game was sort of played between the 18s," Concannon said of the second meeting against South Park.

"We had a different energy than the first time we met and our players knew what to expect. I thought South Park had better play in terms of possession. We had a few opportunities but we didn't capitalize."

On the season Springdale won 20 games, shut out three teams in the WPIAL playoffs before the championship match while outscoring the opposition, 10-0, and shut out Karns City and Fairview in the PIAA playoffs to return to the semifinals.

Springdale had to go through the state playoffs without a key player, Brianne Loveland, who was lost for the remainder of the postseason when she sustained a hairline leg fracture in the first game of the state playoffs. Concannon and his team quickly had to make adjustments to the lineup.

She is the younger sister of junior forward Brittany Loveland, the team's top goal scorer.

Alexis Sarsfield, the second leading scorer on the team, stepped up and provided valuable flexibility as a utility player capable of playing different positions as Concannon shuffled the lineup after Brianne Loveland's injury.

Even more impressively, the turnaround Springdale has orchestrated during the past two seasons has been accomplished with mostly underclassmen. From last year's team, only two senior starters graduated and this year Springdale will only lose three, Sara Skibo, Laura Gajdosik and Mandy Noble.

"We have a lot of players who have been in high-level playoff games since they were freshmen and sophomores," Concannon said. "I think that level of experience and momentum are going to help next year.

"We have had such little turnover the past two years. There was more addition to the roster than depletion."

Along with the experience gained last year, Concannon was even more confident about his team's chances in the postseason based on the non-section games it played in the regular season. Against out-of-district powerhouses Hollidaysburg and State College, Springdale was able to stay competitive losing each game, 3-2.

"I wasn't worried at all," Concannon said of how some of the younger players may have handled the playoff atmosphere.

"We tried to schedule the Class AAA schools and -- win or lose -- it helped prepare us. The girls knew what to expect. The experience last year was really helpful and the young players who are freshmen, I think they know what to expect and they know what their teammates expect of them."