UPPER DUBLIN — Upper Dublin’s last league championship came in 2019 when it shared the Suburban One League American Conference title with Abington. In the four full seasons since, the Cardinals have finished second twice and third twice.
The league’s name may have changed — it turned into the SOL Liberty Division in the 2020-21 season — but the top teams haven’t. Upper Dublin, Abington and Plymouth Whitemarsh occupied the top three spots in the standings in the league every year since they were grouped together in the 2018-19 season. PW won the last four league championships.
It’s very early in the season, but this week was a big step toward Upper Dublin getting back on top.
After beating Abington Tuesday, the Cardinals came back 48 hours later and dominated Plymouth Whitemarsh, 53-15, Thursday night at Upper Dublin High School.
“It gives us a lot of confidence,” Upper Dublin senior Amy Ngo said of the two big wins. “We’re trying to make a statement here. I don’t think we’ve won a league in a couple years. We’re really trying to make a statement right now.
“We’re here and we’re ready every game. Ready for anyone.”
The Cardinals are 5-0 this season with a 4-0 mark in SOL Liberty play. They’ll finish the first round of league games against Hatboro-Horsham Monday before playing a slate of crossover games against the SOL Freedom Division. The second round of SOL Liberty games start Jan. 23.
“The crossover division is much-improved,” Upper Dublin coach Morgan Funsten said. “We’re going to have our hands full when we cross over — all six of those teams are dangerous, but we know right now we’ve taken care of business in the first four games on our side. We’re super excited about what the future holds.”
“You’re not beating that team without months and months of getting ready for it,” PW coach Dan Dougherty said of Upper Dublin. “Credit to them — that’s how you win championships. You win championships through progression of a program and that’s what Morgan does. That’s why they’re the team to beat on our side of the Suburban One, for sure.”
It took a couple minutes before Upper Dublin separated itself from Plymouth Whitemarsh. The Colonials (3-2, 2-2 SOL Liberty) scored on their first two possessions of the game to take a 4-0 lead and then it was all Cardinals. UD led 12-6 at the end of the first quarter and 26-8 – a 26-4 run – at the half.
Upper Dublin’s aggressive defense was what defined the game. They forced 23 turnovers in the game, including 15 in the first half. They took the ball in a variety of ways — conventional steals, forcing jump balls and taking charges.
“It’s something we worked on in the offseason,” Funsten said, “trying to become a team that can play at that type of speed. We tried it against Scranton Prep and we got in foul trouble. We tried it against Abington and it was not effective so we took it off and got back to… what we’ve played in the past. We think we have the personnel this year to play at that type of speed. Causing havoc on defense and creating good shots on offense comes as a direct result.”
On the offensive end, it was a balanced night for the Cardinals. Ngo led the way with 12 points while Tamia Clark added nine, Megan Ngo and Kaitlyn Zacharia each had eight and Brighid Brady and Bridget Dimartile each had six.
AJ Avery led PW with five points while McKenna Winland and Marissa Perez each had four.
“I just told the girls that’s a humbling experience to have to go through,” Dougherty said. “It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten running-clocked. Over the last decade, I don’t know how many teams we’ve done it to. To have it done back is a humbling experience. It’s been over 10 years since it happened to us. (Upper Dublin is) a heck of a team. We’re a young, inexperienced team. They’re well-coached. They pounced on our inability to run things and handle pressure. A lot of credit to Upper Dublin — a lot of credit to them. They’re definitely the cream of the crop when it comes to our side of Suburban One, for sure.”
Upper Dublin 53, Plymouth Whitemarsh 15Plymouth Whitemarsh 6 2 3 4 — 15Upper Dublin 12 14 19 8 — 53PW: Joslyn Perez 0 0 0-0 0, Taylor Williams 0 0 2-2 2, AJ Avery 1 1 0-0 5, McKenna Winland 2 0 0-0 4, Bailey Riley 0 0 0-0 0, Eliza Meersman 0 0 0-0 0, Marissa Perez 2 0 0-0 4, Brooke Peduzzi 0 0 0-0 0, Gracie Kearns 0 0 0-0 0, Rose Schweitzer 0 0 0-2 0. Total 5 1 2-4 15.UD: Brighid Brady 0 2 0-0 6, Bridget Dimartile 3 0 0-0 6, Makyla Keyes 0 0 0-0 0, Maeve Hogan 0 0 0-0 0, Megan Ngo 1 2 0-0 8, Tamia Clark 4 0 1-2 9, Amy Ngo 3 2 0-0 12, Jordan Siegel 0 0 0-0 0, Julia Scullen 1 0 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Zacharia 1 2 0-0 8, Nora Brady 1 0 0-0 2. Total 14 8 1-2 53.
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