Wissahickon reduced Upper Dublin's four-goal lead to one early in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinals stayed focused and managed to keep their unbeaten record on Thursday night.
UD coach Dee Cross stressed the importance of sticking to what players are comfortable with and working as a team rather than trying to be a hero.
After Wissahickon scored the last two goals in the third quarter and narrowed the gap to 7-8, Upper Dublin responded by scoring four consecutive goals, including two by freshman Bridget DiMartile, to take a 12-8 win in the SOL American Conference.
Upper Dublin senior Paige Dinkel acknowledged the risk of becoming complacent when leading by a large margin and emphasized the team's focus on continuous scoring to prevent the opponents from making a comeback.
Dinkel, who scored six goals, including three in the second quarter, contributed to Upper Dublin's halftime lead of 6-4.
Dinkel noted that scoring becomes easier when the offense is settled and teammates provide support.
Upper Dublin expanded their lead to 8-4 in the third quarter before Wissahickon's scoring drought ended, allowing them to close the gap to 7-8.
Wissahickon ended a scoring dry spell of over 14 minutes with goals from Lila Marciniak and Emma Greenberg, bringing the score to 7-8 before Upper Dublin pulled ahead again.
Wissahickon coach Chuck Wurzbach highlighted the importance of ball movement and finding open players to revive the team's offense after a stagnant period.
DiMartile interrupted Wissahickon's three-goal streak with a timely score at 9:53, while Dinkel secured her final goal with a feed from DiMartile, extending UD's lead to 10-7.
The Cardinals scored the next two goals through Anna DiMartile and Bridget DiMartile, increasing their lead to 12-7.
Cross emphasized that taking an eight-meter shot is not guaranteed and is part of the game's strategy, praising the team's willingness to listen and work together.
Stehlik made a score with 4:49 remaining, but Wissahickon was not able to close the gap as it suffered its second consecutive loss.
“It’s a well-coached team, honestly, they make good decisions with the ball in their stick,” Wurzbach of Upper Dublin said. “They move it and they wait to find the right opportunity. You know, that’s impressive. We tried different things defensively and they just stayed true to their own game. So I got to give them credit for that.”
Bridget DiMartile added three goals while Anna DiMartile scored twice for the Cardinals, who are in the top position in the District 1-3A rankings leading to a home non-league matchup against Harriton 3:30 p.m. Friday.
“It just shows that they’re learning each game,” Cross said. “They know all the girls on the other team, it is a rivalry which makes it fun but also very intense and I think both teams played great and we were just fortunate to be able to score at the end.”
Alexa McCabe scored three goals for Wissahickon, which is currently in 12th place in the 3A rankings. The Trojans will visit Quakertown at 5 p.m. Monday.
Back-to-back goals from McCabe – the second on an eight-meter shot – gave Wissahickon a 3-1 lead at 4:33 in the first quarter. Dinkel scored 27 seconds later while Bridget DiMartile’s successful eight-meter shot at 1:42 had the Cardinals even 3-3.
“I think that there were a good section there where they made some adjustments on the draw and it gave them more possessions than us,” Wurzbach said. “And this game is all about possessions, if you have more possessions than the other team a lot of times usually it bodes well for you by the time you get to the end of the game.”
McCabe put Wissahickon back up on an eight-meter shot at 7:51 in the second quarter but the Trojans did not score again until Marciniak’s tally at 5:18 in the third.
The last three goals of the first half came from Dinkel. She knotted things at four scoring off an eight-meter shot at 6:34 then gave Upper Dublin the lead for good with her tally at 5:16. Dinkel found the back of the net off a Bridget DiMartile assist with 8.5 seconds left before the break to put the Cards ahead 6-4.
Upper Dublin 12, Wissahickon 8
Upper Dublin 3 3 2 4 – 12
Wissahickon 3 1 2 2 – 8
Upper Dublin Goals: Paige Dinkel 6, Bridget DiMartile 3, Anna DiMartile 2, Shannon Connaughton.
Wissahickon Goals: Alexa McCabe 3, Sam Farno, Emma Greenberg, Lila Marciniak, Maddy Radell, Sophia Stehlik.
