Upper Dublin cruises past West Chester East to reach District 1 quarters
UPPER DUBLIN >> After last season’s unexpected early exit from the District One playoffs, Upper Dublin’s boys lacrosse team is taking no chances.
Every practice is intense, every move is calculated and few mistakes are tolerated.
The Cardinals carry that same intensity to the field.
So that when they blitzed West Chester East, 18-2, Thursday in their opening district game, the Cardinals treated it like it was just another tough bump on the way to what they hope will be a run at a state title.
Max Winebrake and Michael Mullen each scored four goals and Michael Sowers added three goals and four assists as Upper Dublin advanced to meet the winner of Thursday night’s North Penn-Garnet Valley game this Saturday at Harriton High School.
“We have a lot of seniors on this team, and they have the experience you need to go far,” said Winebrake, whose four first-half tallies helped the home team build a 15-1 halftime lead. “I think we’ve forgotten about last season. This is a new year.”
As part of the new year, new head coach David Sowers has racheted up the intensity of the daily practices, putting the Cardinals through their paces in lieu of a tough league schedule.
“Our practices are a lot more high tempo and intensity,” Winebrake said. “Even our backups are playing hard.”
That intensity was evident Thursday as the Cardinals built a 4-0 lead after one period, then turned the contest into a romp with an 11-goal second stanza.
“We wanted to play a fast, physical style and give ourselves a chance to win at the end,” said East head coach Jim Schorn, “but it just wasn’t our day.
“When you prepare for Upper Dublin you have to prepare for Michael Sowers, who’s the best player in the state. So it’s almost impossible to keep them under control. (Upper Dublin) is great from top to bottom.”
With the score tilted in their favor, the Cardinals took their collective feet off the gas pedal in the second half, choosing to move the ball, substitute liberally and give their reserves some playing time.
Meanwhile, the Vikings huffed and puffed, but couldn’t dent the Cardinals defense.
“We just wanted to play our game, and stick to what we’ve done all year,” Winebrake said.
With the clock running continuously, the second half sped by, with the Cardinals trying only occasionally to shoot the ball and the Vikings looking for any spark they could find.
By game’s end, Upper Dublin was in complete command, but the Vikings weren’t passing out crying towels.
“When this year’s senior class were freshmen, we won two games,” Schorn said. “We had only a couple A-level players.
“But they leave this program far better than the way they found it, and I’m proud of all of them.”
As for the Cardinals, it was on to the quarterfinals, where they’re hopeful of a better ending than their fate of a season ago.
“If something like that happened, we’d be disappointed,” Winebrake said. “But we just want to try and get as far as we can.”
LAX-ENDS: Along with the aforementioned totals, the Cardinals got single goals from Nick Vernacchio, Conor Wall, Jack Rapine, Jerry Bardol and Ryan Templeton. … Tom Gormley and Chris Erfle scored for the Vikings, while Joe Guarneri added an assist.
