By Nick DeLorenzo
Upper Dublin 3 Council Rock North 2
On a day that began cold, wet, and dreary, the sun finally showed up just in time for the start of the girls’ soccer season.
The season opener held a similar fate for Upper Dublin as the Flying Cardinals started off slow but emerged late en route to a 3-2 comeback win on the road against Council Rock North.
Rock North controlled much of the first half, spending the majority of the half on the attack while turning away all of the Flying Cardinals’ scoring chances before they became any real threat. Just before the 15-minute mark Rock North tallied its first goal of the season on a pretty strike from Sarah Scheidell to the top right corner of the net. Less than three minutes later, Lexie Steele came down and hit virtually the same spot to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.
“We’re a little disappointed in the first half,” Upper Dublin coach John Topper said. “We had a few opportunities, but [the Indians] capitalized on their first, and you always wonder, especially in the first game of the season, whether you’re going to have the character to come back from that.”
The Flying Cardinals showed their team character late in the first half. With just under three minutes to go before halftime, Ryan Noe was able to take a nice feed from Emily Marvill and deposit it in the back of the net, cutting the lead to 2-1 and giving Upper Dublin some much needed momentum heading into the second half.
After just missing a chance early on in the second, Marvill made sure she connected on her next opportunity near the net, tying the game at 2-2 with 32:13 left to play.
Despite being out-matched in the first half, Upper Dublin was able to take control of the game in the second. After a handful of good opportunities to take the lead, Hale Kline took a teammate’s rebound off the crossbar and put it in the empty net to give Upper Dublin the 3-2 lead.
Rock North was able to turn up the pressure on Upper Dublin in the game’s last 10 minutes, but goalie Allie Dayno was able to turn away the Indians’ attempts with some stellar saves to help Upper Dublin hang on for the victory.
Topper was very impressed in his team’s ability to come back from the early two-goal deficit on the road and credited his team’s endurance as key in its ability to close out the game.
“We made a few switches at the half, and the girls really stepped up,” Topper said. “They showed a high level of fitness and a high work rate and a lot of leadership out there. I think the result shows what they are capable of.”
“We were fortunate enough to have good weather (the past few weeks) to get outside and work on our fitness,” he continued. “I think that was a big part of the second half today. We had some girls on the verge of keeling over, but they were able to keep going and put their backs under a lot of pressure and the opportunities followed.”
With the team’s success last year and the promising start to the 2010 campaign, Topper is optimistic about the coming season.
“We’re hoping to put ourselves in another good position to win the league,” Topper said. “There are some other good teams that are really going to be able to challenge us this year – some teams who were young last year. Even though we only have one senior, we’ve got good leadership this year and a lot of talented young players.”
Neshaminy 2, Central Bucks South 1
Brianna Hires scored for Neshaminy just eight minutes into the game to give the Redskins a 1-0 lead, a lead that they would take into halftime.
Stacy Bartleson wasted no time at the start of the second half, scoring within the first minute to give Neshaminy a 2-0 lead. Central Bucks South cut the lead in half with less than 10 minutes left in the game but Neshaminy was able to hold on for the big win.
After graduating nine starters from last year’s team, Neshaminy head coach Rich Reice was curious to see how his squad would respond coming into this season. After an up-and-down preseason, Reice was happy to see his team get off on the right foot.
"I'm pleased with the way we performed," Reice said. "It's a good start. CB-South had some good players and maintained possession for most of the game, but we were able to capitalize on our opportunities."
Cheltenham 3 Springfield 2
Christy Kershaw and Bree Hansteen scored for Cheltenham in the first half, making the score 2-2 at halftime despite a half that saw Springfield control the pace of play, according the Cheltenham coach Mark Woodcock.The game remained tied until a scramble in the box after a corner kick led to an ‘own goal’ for Springfield, which was enough to give Cheltenham the lead and 3-2 win.
In a game highlighted by the gusting winds and a few lucky breaks, Woodcock was not especially thrilled with his team's opening day performance.
"We played very average today," the Panthers’ coach said. "But we played well enough to win the second half."
Central Bucks East 1 Wissahickon 0
CB East out shot Wissahickon 15-5, but it took 75 minutes to finally get on the scoreboard, as Devon Fryatt took an Alex Shaw feed and buried it in the back of the net to give CB East a 1-0 win in its home opener.
In a hard-fought defensive battle, Samantha Gladnick came up big for CB East with 4 saves.
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