There's been a major development with the girls' soccer program at Springside Chestnut Hill Academy. One of the most successful head coaches at the school in any sport, Maria Kosmin, has departed after an eight-year run that was punctuated by championship seasons in both the Inter-Ac League and the Pa. Independent Schools Athletic Association.

She has taken over the team at Archbishop Wood High School, replacing her brother, Tom DeGeorge (a former SCH assistant coach).

Following an extensive search, Springside Chestnut Hill has handed its program over to Aaron Tritch, a coach with extensive college and club experience.

For the past five years, he's been on the coaching staff for the storied FC Delco club organization. After a collegiate playing career at Eastern University in St. David's, Pa., he coached at his alma mater and also at Ursinus College. He was then hired as the founding head coach of the women's soccer program at Rosemont College.

After seven seasons with the Ravens, he headed south to become an assistant coach at St. Leo College in Florida.

For the SCH players, there will still be a familiar face on the sidelines, with Delaney Kustra back for a second season as assistant coach.

Last fall, the Springside Chestnut Hill team started out coping with the graduation loss of 13 players, 11 of whom are now playing in college. That group had won both the 2022 Inter-Ac League and PAISAA championships.

In 2023 the Blue Devils went 8-3-1 in league play, tying for second place with Agnes Irwin School. The league champ, Episcopal Academy, beat SCH 2-1 in the semifinal round of the PAISAA tournament, and then won the final, as well.

Three talented players graduated off of the 2023 Springside roster; a fourth senior sat out with a season-ending injury.

The 2024 Blue Devils will also be missing the marquee player from last year's strong freshman class. Midfielder Deus Stanislaus is traveling and playing with the U.S. junior national teams, and will be taking her classes on-line.

Senior Gracyn Lee-Torchiana returns as the Blue Devils' starting goalie, along with her classmate and one of her defenders, Jolie Kaoma. The other seniors are all forwards; Zarin DeVeaux, Lida Goloveyko, and Kenna Quinn. There plenty of midfielders in the junior class, namely Caitlin Bautista, Saoirse Glennon, Izzy Harvey, and Jillian Major. Another 11th-grader, Sammi Acuna, is a forward.

The team also has highly-skilled midfielders in Cali Smith and Ryleigh Bakley, part of the powerful sophomore class. Maris Herghelegiu, another sophomore mid, has moved up onto the varsity this year. 

Forward Alex de Beaulac, also a 10th-grader, scored a hat trick in the Blue Devils' season opener on August 29, when SCH defeated Archbishop Wood, 5-2. The sophomores returning to the varsity in defensive roles are Ashley Hughes, Penny Rice, and Ella Thomson, and Ziya DeVeaux, Zarin's sister, is a new defender on the squad.

Another younger sibling on the squad is Thomson's freshman sister, Kit. The other ninth-graders on the varsity roster are Emma Schweitzer, Finley Paul (daughter of basketball guru Matt Paul), and Nadia Bevan, who excelled on the SCH track team as an eighth grader this spring.

After last week's opener against Wood, SCH engaged in a home field scrimmage on Friday, battling to a 0-0 tie against Westtown School, the 2023 Friends Schools League champion and a finalist in the PAISAA tournament.