UPPER DUBLIN – Piper McGinley wasn’t too happy.
The Abington senior wasn’t happy she’d just been fouled in the final minute of Wednesday’s first half against Upper Dublin. She wasn’t happy that the Ghosts entered the day in the middle of the table of SOL Liberty Division standings and while she has a few friends who play for UD, she certainly wouldn’t have been happy losing to them.
McGinley’s heads-up play in the waning seconds of the first half led to the eventual match-winner as the Ghosts topped the Cardinals 2-1 on a scorching Wednesday evening.
“I was mad they fouled me and they weren’t set up when the ref said I could go, so I decided to shoot. It was open, so that was the read,” McGinley said. “There wasn’t a lot of time left, so I knew I had to get the shot off.”
Abington, last year’s SOL Liberty champion, had gotten off to a slow start with a shutout loss to Central Bucks East and a 2-1 loss at Plymouth Whitemarsh to start SOL play. Things finally came together late last week when the Ghosts picked up their first win of the season with a 1-0 shutout of a Hatboro-Horsham side that’s been an annual challenger in the division.
Even with Wednesday’s high temperatures prompting a delayed start and two starters sidelined with injury, Abington (2-2-0, 2-1-0 SOL Liberty) looked to keep that trend going against a Cardinals team that’s been pretty solid so far. Ghosts defender Sara Kaeser felt like the Hatters match was a turning point as some of the team’s new faces started to find their way.
“I like that people who really didn’t even play varsity last year have stepped up, communicated and worked how we work,” the center back said. “We strive a lot to have good communication, sharing our marks and making sure everything is always covered. It’s been really helpful to have people who will listen and take hold of what space has been left.”
Upper Dublin (1-1-1, 1-1-1) is still finding its identity in this early portion of the schedule. It’s a task made tougher with junior Erin Seabrook sidelined with an injury and while Wednesday’s game was a loss, the Cardinals went down with a frantic push that put a late scare into the visitors.
“The ball didn’t bounce our way but we knew that game could have gone either way,” UD coach John Topper said. “I was encouraged by the younger girls today, we were missing some pieces with Seabrook and (Meghan) McGinley so we played some girls in unfamiliar positions, so they got some invaluable experience and did some good things at times.”
A good portion of the first half was played in Abington’s attacking side of the field, with the Ghosts generating four corner kicks in the first 25 minutes and putting together a couple of looks. While UD, save for an ambitious rip by Jane Hillman that was just wide of the net, played mostly on the defensive, the back line held up well.
Abington coach Rick Tompkins called his team “a work in progress” before the first kick and there were moments of good and moments that weren’t as sharp. However, the Ghosts did stay aggressive and that would lead to their first goal.
A hit by Harper McGinley was deflected by a diving effort from UD keeper Jordyn Levine, which landed in free space where Hannah Gilchrist was there to knock it home as she crashed the net.
“We’ll get better,” Tompkins said. “It’s good to beat a good team because it gives them a little more confidence that what we’re trying to tell them actually might work.”
The Ghosts didn’t ease up after scoring and in the final minute, Piper McGinley was fouled about 30 yards from goal. Acting quickly, the senior got up and spotted the ball as the UD coaches urged their players to get back, form a wall and pick up marks.
They didn’t have the time as McGinley drove the ball on target, just high enough to get through a valiant leaping effort by Levine with 15.7 left on the clock.
“She’s got game sense, that makes a big difference,” Tompkins said of McGinley. “She also hit a bomb, so that helps.”
Topper conceded the late goal was a difference-maker, especially when both teams were already using so much energy that trying to play from behind would be very taxing.
“That’s a killer, it’s tough to give up one before half, rough to give up two,” Topper said. “It really allows them to play a little more defensive and make it more difficult on us. Credit to Abington, they saw we were slow to set up there and capitalized on it.”
Levine, who played well in goal, got a little payback in the second half when she turned away a shot by McGinley with 14 minutes left that would have put the match out of reach. Madison McManus, Abby O’Meara and Sophia Sirianni helped lead a defensive effort in front of her that defended six Abington corner kicks.
With their midfield drained, the Cardinals started to go a little bigger with their plays forward as the match wore into its final 10 minutes. That started to generate some chances and a little bit of chaos, which was enough to give Bridget DiMartile an opening to let rip from distance with the freshman putting enough power on her hit to blow through a save attempt and slice the lead in half with 6:56 to go.
“We don’t love this result, but if you look across the league, everybody’s dropping points,” Topper said. “We have to expect this, make the little improvement between games and hopefully come out on top.”
Upper Dublin nearly got its own goal in the final seconds of a half with a nice build-up leading DiMartile to whip a ball into the box that O’Meara got a foot to, but went agonizingly wide of the post.
With back-to-back wins, the Ghosts are moving up the SOL Liberty standings. Piper McGinley won’t be happy until they’re back on top, but it was a step in the right direction.
“We were in third place in the league and that’s just not okay with me,” McGinley said. “I don’t like to lose to anybody, but I have a lot of friends on Upper Dublin, so I did not want to lose to them.”
ABINGTON 2 0 – 2
UPPER DUBLIN 0 1 – 1
Goals; A – Hannah Gilchrist, Piper McGinley; UD – Bridget DiMartile.
