Hanson, defense lead way as Upper Dublin handles Souderton
FRANCONIA >> Jed Hanson cut toward the net, jumped into the air and caught a pass from Max Winebrake high above his head.
Hanging in mid-air, the Upper Dublin attackman brought his stick down in a fluid shot and finished off the one-timer for his fourth goal of the afternoon. Friday was Hanson’s day of the offensive end as the attacker scored five goals to back up an ironclad defensive effort by Upper Dublin’s boys lacrosse team.
The Cardinals proved tough to beat on the defensive as they picked up a 9-1 road win at Souderton to finish off the week.
“I’ve actually been yelled at a couple times for trying to catch that pass,” Hanson said with a smile. “I’m moving on the crease and moving away from man, it just opens me up and we practice that pass a lot. It’s pretty much muscle memory.”
Souderton came out fired up looking to knock the Cardinals (11-0, 5-0 SOL American) off their perch at the top of the league table and forced UD’s defense into early action. Luckily for the Cardinals, goalie Dillon Lojeski was locked in, making a couple of big stops in the first quarter.
The Cardinals didn’t have much luck against the Indians (8-4, 3-2 SOL American) defense either, with Souderton goalie Axel Beskar keeping his team even for most of the opening period. Hanson finally broke the stalemate with 1:02 left in the opening frame, but it was the defense that had won the quarter for Upper Dublin.
“Dillon’s really seeing the ball and doing a great job,” UD coach Dave Sowers said. “The guys back there, Jake DiMartile, Brody Balasa, Nick Sowers and Sam Polin, those four don’t get anything in the paper but they’ve been playing great defense.”
After Souderton’s initial surge, the Indians found space to attack Upper Dublin limited inside of 10 meters. Whether it was one of the long-pole defenders or defensive midfielders like Malik Bootman and Anthony Cerminara, Upper Dublin wasn’t giving up any space.
“When we can put defensive mids on attack men and move the poles up on the mids, they’re the guys who need to get recognition,” Sowers said. “(Souderton) couldn’t go by them and offense doesn’t start until you go by somebody. Dillon saw the ball well but he also has six guys in front of him playing really well.”
Nick Sowers caused a turnover, carried it across midfield and found Winebrake who then hit a cutting Hanson for the Cardinals’ second goal in a tic-tac-toe passing sequence. Brian McCarry added a third after beating his mark on a curl toward the net but Upper Dublin only managed a 3-0 lead at the half.
Souderton coach Mark Princehorn credited Upper Dublin’s defensive effort but also noted his team was a play or two away from changing the complexion of the game in the first half.
“It wasn’t the outcome we wanted on the scoreboard but we got a lot of positive things and a lot of things done we wanted against a very good defense that played a very fundamentally sound game with strong goaltending,” Prinehorn said. “Our kids have nothing to hang their head on, they played all-out, maximum effort against a good team.”
Lojeski made 13 saves while Beskar made 11 stops and both goalies made stops that were of a high degree in difficulty. Upper Dublin scored nine times, but the Cardinals still had to work to put them away.
“Axel’s been playing at a high level and a shoutout to our defensive coach Josh Wilkocz who dialed up a great defensive gameplan,” Princehorn said. “Our defense is the strength of our team, we came in with a plan and executed it.”
Hanson said the Cardinals’ strength on offense is its lack of a dominant scorer. While he had five goals on Friday, the next game could see Winebrake, Carey Romig, McCarry or any other number of guys be the lead scorer.
Friday was his game though, and the attacker made use of his size but also quick reads to set up his chances. Four of his five tallies were assisted and three came off cuts and one-time passes.
“I’m just looking to shoot low and away,” Hanson said. “You do anything you can to make it tough for the goalie to cover the whole crease and make the save.”
With the Cardinals not relying on one guy to do everything on offense, it becomes easier for them to find the hot hand on a particular day. Sowers felt Hanson has improved at his movement off the ball and said that combed with his good hands creates advantageous opportunities.
“He’s a phenomenal skier, he does flips and things like that so he knows how to control his body,” Sowers said. “It’s good to see him using that control while moving off-ball.”
Upper Dublin has a huge game on the schedule Monday, when it hosts state power Avon Grove in a nonleague contest.
UPPER DUBLIN 9, SOUDERTON 1
UPPER DUBLIN 1 2 3 3 – 9
SOUDERTON 0 0 0 1 – 1
Goals-Assists: UD – Jed Hanson 5-0, Brian McCarry 2-0, Jason Williams 1-2, Carey Romig 1-1, Max Winebrake 0-2, Lucas Roselli 0-1; S – Walker Martin 1-0. Saves: UD – Dillon Lojeski 13; S – Axel Beskar 11.
