Upper Dublin cruises past Cumberland Valley for 1st-ever PIAA win

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WEST CHESTER >> Six days after claiming the District 1 title at J. West Chester Henderson’s J. Oscar Dicks Stadium, the Upper Dublin boys lacrosse team was back at the field for the Cardinals’ PIAA Tournament opener Wednesday night against Cumberland Valley.

In between, UD coach Dave Sowers gave his players a break during the Memorial Day weekend.

“We actually just let them go and they all went to the shore,” he said. “I wanted them to do that, I wanted them to get away and clear their minds. At the end of the day, they’re still teenage boys, and I still need them to enjoy this ride.”

The ride will last at least one more round in states. Upper Dublin scored the first seven goals in its first round matchup with the Eagles – six coming in the first quarter – and as the Cardinals cruised to a 10-3 victory over District 3’s third-place side.

“It’s kind of interesting, throughout the season, we’ve kind of come out slow in games. And this game we basically came out fast and we were going on all cylinders,” UD senior defenseman Rockwell Wright said. “And then we slow down in the second quarter, but then our defense we really picked it back up and we can rely on ourselves and we feel great.”

Michael Sowers had a game-high three goals and handed out a pair of assists while Michael Mullen had two goals before getting sidelined with an ankle injury as Upper Dublin advanced to face District 1 fourth seed Strath Haven in the quarterfinals Saturday at a time and place to be announced. Strath Haven defeated District 11 champ Southern Lehigh 14-4.

“I think at this point, you win and you keep going, that’s what it comes down to,” Michael Sowers said. “So, we’re just going to keep moving as far as we can take this thing.”

The win was a continuation of Upper Dublin’s postseason of first. Wednesday, UD tacked on first PIAA game and state victory to a list that already including the program’s inaugural District 1 championship it claimed the previous week.

“It feels great. From freshman year we’ve preached going to states, but we’ve never actually gotten there. We’ve never even won districts before,” Wright said. “And when Mr. Sowers took over as head coach, he really knew it was one step at a time. He didn’t tell us we had to go to states, he didn’t tell us we had to win this we had to win that. It was just the one game at a time.”

The Cardinals had things rolling in the first 12 minutes. Five different players registered a goal with Mullen collecting the first and last tally of the quarter – his second strike coming off a cross-crease pass from Michael Sowers to make it 6-0 at 1:09.

Michael Sowers’ strike at 9:19 in the second quarter extended the advantage to seven, but from there UD only added three more goals. That was mostly due to Cumberland Valley keeper Nic Brown making a handful of tough saves in the second and third quarters. He finished with 12 stops for the Eagles, who made the state semifinals in 2015.

“Any time you get a goalie like that, you execute plays and then he makes the save, it’s definitely frustrating,” Michael Sowers said. “It’s just one of those things you know you can’t control that. Hats off to him, he played out of his mind.”

Nick Sather gave Cumberland Valley its first goal with 8:30 remaining until halftime while Jeff Hamilton scored at 2:55 to cut the margin to 7-2 at the break.

“Memorial Day weekend obviously kind of showed its head a little bit and then again losing Michael Mullen made us have to readjust some things and so forth,” Dave Sowers said. “So I thought we made our adjustments and the kids then what we needed to do to secure the win.”

But Upper Dublin and goalie Dylan Lojeski – who made 11 saves – allowed the Eagles just one goal after halftime and that came on a two-man advantage at 11:09 in the fourth.

“It’s basically doing our own thing,” said Wright of the Cardinals defense. “We each own what we can do and I like to feel we each kind of have our own strong sets. Where I’m more of a one-on-one defender, Henry (Winebrake is) that physical type of guy that’ll take on the big man and Jack (Rapine) can just do whatever he wants.”

Mullen gave Upper Dublin a 1-0 lead off an Evan Scott assist at 10:33 in the first quarter while Max Winebrake doubled the advantage off a drive at 9:21.

After Michael Sowers beat Brown with a low shot, Conor Wall made it 4-0 with his strike at 2:22. Rapine put in his own rebound 12 second later with Michael Sowers found Mullen for a six-goal edge at 1:09.

“We were just all in sync,” Michael Sowers said. “And we were moving the ball real well, getting the looks that we needed to and finishing the ball. So we were able to put a couple by him in the beginning.”

In the third, Scott took some contact in the midfield but charge to the net undefended for a goal at 7:57. Jerry Bardol took a pass from Michael Sowers and scored at 2:36 to put UD up 9-2.

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Mike Cabrey

Mike Cabrey
Mike Cabrey is the Assistant Sports Editor for The Reporter and Montgomery News. Email him at mcabrey@thereporteronline.com.

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