To view game action photos, visit the photo gallery at the following link: http://photos.suburbanonesports.com/
By Alex Frazier
All things considered, it turned out to be a great evening of soccer.
After a day of rain, Mother Nature relented to help celebrate Senior Night at Upper Dublin.
Five Upper Dublin seniors—Brianna Barnes, Sara Feldman, Marissa Gaab, Kristen Kane and Sam Waters—and four Wissahickon players—Liz Corti, Jamie Eckhart, Lynn Kern and Kailen Mele—competed in their last rivalry against each other.
For the Trojans, a win would have kept them in the hunt for the American Conference title, a long shot, but still a possibility.
For the favored Cardinals, a win or tie would clinch their second straight conference championship.
Both teams put on an excellent display of soccer. It was a shame there had to be a loser.
But with the game tied at one apiece, Upper Dublin freshman Ryan Noe took a pass from senior Marissa Gaab on the left side and drilled the ball into the net with 25:09 left to play.
“It was our rival, so it felt good,” said Gaab.
The Cardinals then held off a couple of late Wissahickon thrusts to win 2-1 and keep their league undefeated streak intact.
“It was the most competitive game we’ve had in the league this year,” said Upper Dublin coach John Topper. “It was a tight one the last time we played them (3-1), but they’ve come a long way.”
With just two games left against Norristown and Upper Merion, Upper Dublin clinched the title.
“It was nice for the seniors to have a good contest here, and they came through,” said Topper. “It’s fun to do it at night at home against a local rival.”
Upper Dublin had the chance to break the game open in the first 12 minutes of play. Twice within three minutes, Sam Waters had a one-on-one break against Wissahickon keeper Alyssa King and fired the ball left of the cage.
Briana Barnes also had a good chance from the right wing, but her shot flew wide left, too.
“When you have chances early, you have to finish them,” said Topper.
Finally at the 16-minute mark, sophomore Emily Marvill hit the net inside the left post following a direct kick by Erin Lafferty.
Eight minutes later, Wissahickon nearly tied it when the speedy Alex Schaefer pulled the trigger on a charging Ali Dayno, who forced Schaefer to shoot wide left of the goal.
Two minutes later, Dayno beat the Trojans’ Andrea Lewis to a 50/50 ball to avert another scoring opportunity.
With five minutes left in the first half, Marvill had a chance to notch her second, but after pushing the ball to her left foot, she shot wide to the right.
“The first 20 minutes they could have capitalized,” said Wissahickon coach Chris McDaniels. “After that we woke up and we were in the game the whole time. It was a matter of putting away a chance or two.”
Eighteen minutes into the second half, Wissahickon tied it on a controversial penalty kick.
Cardinal centerback Erin Lafferty was called for taking down a Wissahickon player in the box.
“That slide tackle from my angle was perfectly fair,” said Gaab. “She won the ball, she came in from the side and her cleats weren’t up.”
The Trojan’s Andrea Lewis stepped to the line and fired the ball waist high into the right side.
It could have been a moment of deflation for the Cardinals, but they didn’t fold.
“I think it drove us a little harder,” said Gaab. “It showed that we wanted it more. We really gave our all in the last 10-15 minutes or so.”
Three minutes later, Gaab sent a chip shot from the center of the field to Noe on the left. She converted the pass inside the right post for the game winner.
“I heard Ryann crying for the ball in the distance,” said Gaab. “It was about time she got the ball, so I tried to give it to her. It was a chip around the defense and she ran onto it and finished it.
“She’s been struggling in practice because she’s getting frustrated, but she did great today. It’s her first year in the high school and it’s more physical. She held her own today.”
Despite the loss, the Trojans were upbeat.
”I’m pretty proud of the girls,” said Wissahickon senior defender Liz Corti. “A lot of us stepped up. We had a rough 20 minutes in the beginning there, but we realized we’re not that far behind this team this year, so we should give them a run for their money, and we did.”
Both teams are anxiously awaiting the district seeding meeting on Saturday. The Cardinals are a shoo-in to make the tournament, but eager to see their seeding.
“It was one of our better seasons since I’ve been with the team,” said Gaab, a four-year starter. “I feel really confident that we can break that curse of the first round of the playoffs.”
Wissahickon and Plymouth Whitemarsh are still battling it out for second place in the conference, so the Trojans’ fate still hangs in the balance.
“I don’t know how many teams are going to get in,” said McDaniels. “I doubt it is three. I’m assuming it will be two.”
Which means, at the very least, the Trojans have to win out.
“This win would have put us over the edge, but we didn’t get it,” said Corti. “We had to at least beat them to advance to the playoffs. When we tied it up, it was really an exciting moment for us, because we thought we might be going. There’s still a shot.”
Upper Dublin 2, Wissahickon 1
Goals: Emily Marvill (UD), Andrea Lewis (W), Ryann Noe (UD)
Assists: Marissa Gaab (UD)
Shots: Upper Dublin 13, Wissahickon 6
Saves: Ali Dayno (UD 3, Alyssa King (W) 4
Corners: Upper Dublin 3, Wissahickon 2
Fouls: Upper Dublin 8, Wissahickon 7
- Log in to post comments
0
