UPPER DUBLIN – Last year, the Upper Dublin girls lacrosse team narrowly lost to Upper Moreland.
Monday afternoon, in another close match with the Golden Bears, the Cardinals ensured a different result this time.
“During the last timeout, our senior Paige (Dinkel) stopped us and said we were in the same position last year but we’re determined to have a different result,” UD junior Anna DiMartile said. “And that really uplifted everyone and we gave our all until the end, which was very special.”
In a crucial game in the race for the SOL American Conference title, DiMartile broke a 5-5 tie with 6:33 remaining in the fourth quarter, while Dinkel scored twice in a 63-second span to increase Upper Dublin’s late lead to three. The Cardinals held on to win 8-6 against visiting Upper Moreland.
“It was their composure at the end of the game and not giving up the ball and simply believing,” UD coach Dee Cross said. “And we challenged them during the timeout, ‘Do you believe you can do this?’ And Paige, as a senior, spoke up and it really resonated with the girls and they got motivated.”
Anna DiMartile and Bridget DiMartile both scored three goals for the Cardinals (15-2, 9-1 conference), who came into Monday tied for first in the American with both Springfield (Montco) and Upper Moreland. Springfield’s 17-10 win over Abington means the Cardinals and Spartans split the title if both earn victories Wednesday, UD visiting Cheltenham at 3:30 p.m. with Springfield at Wissahickon at 7.
Upper Dublin, Upper Moreland, and Springfield all shared the conference title in 2023, with the Cardinals’ only SOL American loss coming to UM in overtime 10-9 on May 8.
“We just have to maintain our composure against Cheltenham, and of course, secure that win,” said Anna DiMartile, who has verbally committed to Florida. “Once again, this team has worked so hard and I believe we deserve this conference title.
“And, it would be quite remarkable to do it again, especially for our seniors who have been with us through it all and have dedicated so much time and effort to the team, and for everyone else, I think it would be pretty amazing.”
Upper Moreland (13-3, 8-2), which had a four-game win streak snapped, still could claim a piece of the SOL American crown but needs a win at home against William Tennent 3:30 p.m. Wednesday along with losses by both UD and Springfield. The Bears finish their regular season at Central Bucks East for a non-conference contest 5 p.m. Thursday.
“This one hurts,” Upper Moreland coach Kim Frantz said. “This one had a lot more at stake to it than just a win or a loss and they know that. And so this one’s tough and we’re going to have to take the time, I mean we play William Tennent on Wednesday so hopefully we’ll bounce back during that game and then CB East, that’ll be a challenge so that’ll be good.”
Upper Dublin, ranked third in District 1-3A, was behind 5-3 after Willow Taylor scored on an eight-meter shot at 5:01 in the second quarter. However, they didn't allow another goal until Olivia Meakim scored with 1:30 remaining in regulation.
The six goals by Upper Moreland, who are first in the 2A rankings, were their lowest of the season.
“I guess we basically figured out their strategy,” explained UD senior goalkeeper Erin Darcy. “Then we started communicating a lot more, which really helped us. We also figured everything out during transitions.”
Darcy, who was previously a defender but switched to goalie this year, ended with six saves.
“I realized I had to step back because I knew their shots would be strong and intimidating, so I just had to do my best,” Darcy commented.
Junior Abigail O’Meara assisted the UD defensive effort by helping to slow down Annalise Messina. Messina, who has verbally committed to Rutgers, led Upper Moreland with three goals but her final goal came at 8:18 in the second quarter.
“I didn’t want to face guard since our defense isn't ready for that at the moment. We just told Ab to step up and really put pressure on, and she did,” Cross said. “She took it as a challenge and then Annalise made a nice move to the goal, and the other girls knew when to slide, which also made a difference.”
Bridget DiMartile scored with just three seconds left in the second quarter, bringing the Cardinals to 5-4 at halftime. The UD freshman then scored the only goal of the third quarter, maneuvering through the defense to even the game at 5-5 at 9:15.
After a charging call gave UD the ball at 7:12 in the fourth, the Cardinals used a timeout to calm things down. Shortly after, Anna DiMartile scored the go-ahead goal, assisted by Ava Shohen, at 6:33.
“We called a timeout because we were just frantic, and it seemed like we were frantic throughout the whole game, but that's credit to Upper Moreland,” Cross said. “The girls knew this was a big game, and we just weren't settling down. But they kept putting the pressure on–they play an aggressive zone, which we knew they would.
“And I think the key was after the timeout, they worked the ball around, we pulled it out so it looked like we were kind of holding it, and that allowed us to get some goals down the middle.”
Dinkel then increased Upper Dublin’s lead to 8-5 with goals at 4:08 and 3:05, both assisted by Shohen.
Meakim scored her second goal of the afternoon with 90 seconds left to end Upper Dublin’s 5-0 run, but Upper Moreland couldn't get any closer.
“It was basically a back-and-forth game; we fell apart for three minutes, and that three minutes ended up costing us,” Frantz said. “I'm really proud of our girls. One of our defenders is home sick, and I'm proud that we filled in–they played amazingly on defense, so I can't complain about that, which is great.”
In the first quarter, Upper Dublin was ahead 2-0 before Messina scored two goals in 11 seconds to tie the game at 4:27. Meakim scored to put the Bears up 3-2 at 2:13 and continued their run into the second quarter, with Messina completing her hat trick at 8:18 to make it 4-2.
“I think we did well with the draws during that time,” Frantz said. “We were winning a lot of the draws and I think our passing was really connected.”
UD narrowed the score to 4-3 with Bridget DiMartile's goal at 7:59 before Taylor scored on an eight-meter to put Upper Moreland back up two at 5:01.
Upper Dublin 8, Upper Moreland 6
Upper Moreland 3 2 0 1 — 6
Upper Dublin 2 2 1 3 — 8
Goals: Upper Moreland-Annalise Messina 3, Olivia Meakim 2, Willow Taylor; Upper Dublin-Anna DiMartile 3, Bridget DiMartile 3, Paige Dinkel 2.
