Despite suffering what could have been a demoralizing 8-1 loss in the SHSHL Varsity A finals opener, Upper Dublin came out fighting in Thursday's second game, going blow for blow with Wissahickon for as long as the young Cardinals could.
But the strong, speedy, experienced Trojans proved to be too much for the Cards, scoring four goals in the third period to pull away for an 8-4 win and the a two-game sweep of the Varsity A championship series.
"Upper Dublin had nothing to lose, we knew they'd come out strong," said Wissahickon coach Ryan McLaughlin. "But we definitely wanted to end it tonight - that was our goal."
Wissahickon surged out a 2-0 lead just over five minutes into the first period on goals by Sean Delaney and Pat Wilson, but the young Cards battled back with goals from Brian Markman -- who missed the first game of the series -- and Gil Lederhandler on the power play to knot the game at 2-2 after one period.
"I had no seniors playing, and only one junior in the game," said Upper Dublin coach Chris Seamens, who lost senior forwards Jacob Long and Alex Faust to injuries. "I commend my kids, they stepped up and shined like you can only expect a senior to do, and they did it as freshmen and sophomores. They're young guys. They've stepped up when their leaders have gone down."
Sean Delaney scored his second of the game less than a minute into the second period and Pat Delaney netted his first of two on a quick play off a faceoff with three minutes left in the period.
"You want to try catching the goalkeeper off-guard, it sends messages to the goalie," Pat Delaney said. "The puck came right to me and I just had to throw it on net, and it found its way in.
"I thought we came out nervous at first. But then we got into it more. Once we got the third goal, we were ready to roll."
The Cardinals weren't ready to call it a night, though. Just over a minute into the third period, a Jonathan Bebey shot from the point was tipped in by Robbie DeGregorio at the far side of the net, and once again it was a one-goal game.
"(Upper Dublin) played with a lot of confidence," McLaughlin said.
But the Trojans countered with four of the game's final five goals to pull away and claim the SHSHL Varsity A title. David Pataki scored off his own rebound to make it a 5-3 game, then Joey Sutow added a highlight-film goal in which he controlled an offensive zone faceoff, weaved in toward the goal and lifted in a backhand while falling to the ice. Joey Sutow rifled in a shot on a two-on-one break and Zach Weiss finished the scoring with 93 seconds left on an outstanding solo effort around both an Upper Dublin defenseman and the goalie.
Bebey scored Upper Dublin's final goal of the game on the power play with three minutes left.
"My kids played 45 minutes of good hockey," Seamens said. "They can be proud of that."
Wissahickon goalie Adam Solomon made 16 saves in the game. Upper Dublin freshman netminder Jack Deragon, thrown into a pressure-packed situation, turned aside 27 shots, 13 in the second period alone.
"Jack was down after the game," Seamens said. "I said to him, 'You don't need to be down on yourself,' because he did real good job. He's going to be our goalie for the next couple years."
In all, nine Trojans figured in the scoring en route to securing the title over their neighborhood rivals.
"That's our style -- get pucks deep, play the body, and use it to our advantage," McLaughlin said. "And I can look to many different guys and expect them to put the puck in the net. We've had that all year. We're looking to make strides and grow as a program and this is definitely a very big step for us. "
"I'm feeling great right now, we're all really stoked," Pat Delaney said. "Knowing that we beat Upper Dublin and my friends are on that team, I can say we beat them for the championship my senior year. It's a great feeling."
But there's still more hockey to be played. Both teams will play March 11 at Hatfield Ice in the opening round of the Flyers Cup Class A tournament. Wissahickon has earned the 14th seed and will face 19th-seeded Quakertown March 11 at 7:20 p.m. Upper Dublin, seeded 16th, will play 17th seed Marple-Newtown at 9 p.m.
Wissahickon 8, Upper Dublin 4
Upper Dublin 2 0 2--4
Wissahickon 2 2 4--8
1st Period
W - Sean Delaney (Pat Wilson, Jeff Schaeffer) 13:57
W - Pat Wilson (David Ko) 9:54
UD Brian Markman (unassisted) 7:02
UD Gil Lederhandler (Power Play) (Ben Hoffmann, Brian Markman) 1:27
2nd Period
W Sean Delaney (unassisted) 14:01
W Pat Delaney (Jeff Schaeffer) 3:01
3rd Period
UD Robbie Degregorio (Jonathan Bebey, Tyler Freezman) 13:57
W David Pataki (Jesse Sutow, Joey Sutow) 12:12
W Joey Sutow (unassisted) 7:19
W Pat Delaney (Zach Weiss) 03:52
UD Jonathan Bebey (Power Play) (Brian Markman, Gil Lederhandler) 02:57
W Zach Weiss (unassisted) 01:33
Goalies
UD Jack Deragon 35 shots, 27 saves, 8 goals
W Adam Solomon 20 shots, 16 saves, 4 goals
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