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By Alex Frazier
Other things being equal, experience can tip the scales.
Upper Merion discovered that the hard way Friday afternoon when the undefeated Vikings met undefeated Upper Dublin.
The Cardinals have a long and storied lacrosse tradition at their school, while Upper Merion, a growing program, is still in its infancy.And while the Vikings gave Upper Dublin all it could handle, it was the Cardinals’ experience that pulled them through when the going got tough.
Trailing 5-4 at the half, Upper Dublin blitzed the Vikings for six goals in the third quarter while the defense held them scoreless as they cruised to a 12-7 victory.
“It was good to get out on the field and put it all together,” said goalie Eric Painter. “We’ve been struggling. In the early part of the season, either the defense would be playing really well and the offense would be struggling, or the offense would be playing well and the defense was struggling.
“It seemed like this game we started to put it all together and we’ve taken a lot of steps forward. It’s really exciting right now.”
“I’ve been talking so much about our experience being so much better than last year,” said Upper Merion coach Brady McCormick. “Those kids have been together for a long time and it shows. They click; they’re a machine. You see that in the way they play and execute.
“We depend a lot on heart, and unfortunately, heart isn’t going to get you doing the right things when you need them.”
After a 12-day layoff, Upper Dublin was ready to get back into action. The Vikings, on the other hand, may have been a bit leg weary after playing a tough game against Wissahickon, not 48 hours ago.The Cardinals came out flying as they scored the first two goals and controlled the ball for the first six minutes of play.
“We came out on fire,” said midfielder Eric Breuninger, who scored three goals and added an assist. “We were just ready to play. We didn’t want to be put in the same position as last year and have a tie for the league. We wanted it for ourselves.”
Upper Merion cut the deficit to one when James Brennan scooped a loose ball and found the net at the 3:35 mark. Twenty seconds later, Nate Hare drove through the defense and tied it at two.
“Our guys know what type of team we are, and we weren’t that in the first half,” said Upper Dublin coach Jon Levine. “We weren’t the team we should be. We played into their game, and they did well. The game plan was third quarter we were going to come out and do our business.”
After a seesaw battle in the first half, it almost seemed that the team which scored last would win, but Upper Dublin blew that theory out of the water by reeling off six unanswered goals.
“What I was talking about at halftime was: Do not come out tight, don’t come out flat and don’t come out not talking, and we did exactly what I said we shouldn’t do,” said McCormick. “That was the game.”
Tim Duke, who led the Cardinals with four tallies, set the tone when he scored on an extra man 23 seconds into the second half. A little over a minute later, Painter made a point-blank save on John Simons, which only pumped up the defense even more. “I sort of blur everything together,” said Painter, who is also a star lineman for the Cardinal football team. “You make a save, you move on. I do whatever I can to get the team going.”
Although Upper Merion had five shots in the period, none hit the net.
“Our guys were moving around a bit more defensively,” said Levine. “We weren’t ball watching. The guys refocused themselves.”
“That third quarter exposed us not being quite as experienced as we need to be,” said McCormick.
The two teams played to a 2-2 draw in the final period, but the damage had already been done.
“We practiced real hard this week, so it was great to get this win,” said Painter.
Upper Dublin 12, Upper Merion 7
Goals: Jake Long (UD) 2, Willie Beury (UD) 2, Tim Duke (UD) 4, Eric Breuninger (UD) 3, Casey Boyd (UD); James Brennan (UM) 4, Nate Hare (UM0, Jamie Crymes (UM) 2
Assists: Jake Long (UD), Willie Beury (UD) 2, Eric Breuninger (UD); Nate Hare (UM), John Simons (UM)
Shots: Upper Dublin 31, Upper Merion 22
Saves: Eric Painter (UD) 12, Conor Crowe 10
Faceoffs: Upper Dublin 8, Upper Merion 11
Penalties: Upper Dublin 6, Upper Merion 2
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