Upper Dublin blanks Springfield
Upper Dublin’s boys’ soccer team didn’t waste much time in celebrating its Senior Night, having the ceremonies just a few weeks into the season. And after honoring all of the seniors on the roster, the Cardinals wasted little time in making sure they had something else to celebrate.
Though it was a night to honor the seniors, three different juniors scored goals for the Cardinals in the game’s opening 31 minutes and helped them to a 4-0 win over 6SULQJfielG LQ D 6ubuUbDQ 2Qe American Conference matchuS DW 8SSeU DublLQ HLJh School on tednesday night.
2Q D veUy PLlG QLJhW DQG while playing in front of a very sizable crowd under the lights, Upper Dublin’s offense took over from the very start, dominating ball possession for nearly the eQWLUe fiUsW hDlI, FDSLWDlLzLQJ three separate times.
“It was a great win to come out with on Senior Night,” Upper Dublin coach Rick Schmidt said.
Roughly 13 minutes into the contest, Upper Dublin’s Tyler thitehead was fed with a perfect pass to the left of the box, where he sent the ball to wac Arnold, who scored out of midair to put the Cardinals up 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, Upper Dublin’s John Roos took a pass from thitehead DQG beDW 6SULQJfielG JRDlkeeper Colin Axel to put the Cardinals up 2-0. In the 31st PLQuWe, Alex BURZQGRUI WRRN a perfect pass from Dan Demchick and chipped it in to the right corner of the net for a 3-0 Upper Dublin lead.
6SULQJfielG (4-3, 3-2) ZDs unable to get much going ofIeQsLvely LQ Whe fiUsW hDlI.
“te didn’t possess the ball well and do well offensively, which is something I thought we’ve been good at Dll yeDU,” 6SULQJfielG FRDFh Dan Meder said. “They had trouble getting the ball up- fielG DQG hRlGLQJ RQWR Whe ball and I don’t know if it was not being used to playing on the turf or being nervous as a team, but they just didn’t react well.”
tith the game not in GRubW, Whe CDUGLQDls (5-1, 4-1) FDPe RuW LQ Whe seFRQG half and continued to control the tempo and keep the ball in the Spartans’ end for the majority of the half. Upper Dublin did add a second half goal, as senior Michael Connelly scored in the 62nd minute to put the Cardinals up 4-0 and cap the scoring.
“It was great to see them not let up,” Schmidt said. “This was one of the fastest games I’ve seen them play all season and they just kept it up the whole time. It was really fun to watch. And the seniors are great. They’re anchoring this team, they all work together from top to bottom and I think they’re leading the way while still including the other grades. There is a level of cohesion that is really nice to see right now.”
:hLWeheDG, ZhR fiQLsheG with the two assists, was happy of the turnout that the Upper Dublin fans had on tednesday.
“It was a great turnout tonight and the support of our fans was great,” he said. “te’re looking forward to that for the rest of the season.”
Upper Dublin junior goalkeeper Scott texler wasn’t tested much, stopping the only shot he faced in the shutout effort. Axel stopped seven shots in net for SpringfielG ZhLle WDNLQJ Whe lRss.
tith the comfortable lead, Schmidt was able to play his substitutes and younger players for much of the second half.
The win moves Upper Dublin to an impressive 4-1 in league play, with a home meeting with mlymouth thitemarsh next on the schedule.
“te’re a game down in the league, so we’re not where I want to be, but these guys are coming together and they have potential to get there.”
6SULQJfielG lRRNs WR JeW back in the win column and rebound when it hosts Upper Moreland on Friday.