Set pieces send Upper Dublin past CB South

UPPER DUBLIN >> The District 1-4A playoffs are still three weeks away, but Monday afternoon’s game between Upper Dublin and Central Bucks South could be a preview of a matchup later this month.

The Cardinals entered the game ranked No. 8 in the district while the Titans were No. 11.

Upper Dublin took a two-goal lead with 10 minutes left in the game and held off a Central Bucks South rally for a 3-2 win on a rainy and windy day at Upper Dublin High School’s Cardinal Stadium.

“This is huge,” UD senior midfielder Miles Bondi said. “It’s one of the biggest games of our season as far as seeding goes. It’s a great win, it really is.”

Bondi gave the Cardinals (11-1-1) 1-0 and 2-1 leads by converting set pieces.

In the fifth minute, Bondi earned a foul and took the free kick from 30 yards away. His right-footed shot got past the CB South wall of defenders and curled into the bottom left corner of the goal.

“It’s wet out so I’m going to hit it low and try to skip it in,” Bondi, who scored a free kick a couple games ago, said. “I hit it well, got it around the wall and it went in.

“I love (taking free kicks). There’s really no pressure on you because if you miss, most people miss, so there’s no pressure. You just get to hit it.”

Bondi broke a 1-1 tie in the 57th minute. Nick Fiore sent a free kick from the offensive side of midfield into the box. Tommy Clayton gained possession and was fouled, earning the Cardinals a penalty kick. Bondi converted the PK for a 2-1 lead with 23:23 left in the game.

“I’ve been working on hitting that spot every day after practice,” he said. “Went up, hit it again and it’s routine. Stay calm and put it where you know you have to.”

“Both of the fouls clearly were fouls,” CB South coach Kyle Pettican said, “but we shouldn’t be putting ourselves in that position to begin with… We have to stop fouling, but I’m a big believer in you have to take the chances that we had. We dominated a decent amount of the game as far as towards their goal and just didn’t put the shots away. When you don’t put goals away, it comes back to bite you again.”

Erik Petushi added an insurance goal in the 70th minute that proved to be the difference. A calculated pass by Christian Broome gave Petushi space in the box and he chipped the ball over the keeper and into the back of the net for a 3-1 lead with 10:12 remaining.

Owen Tyson scored in the 79th minute for the Titans (9-4) to make it a one-goal game, but Upper Dublin controlled possession for the final minute to run out the clock.

CB South generated more opportunities than UD in the first half. The Titans put three shots on goal, including Thijs Popma’s equalizer to tie the game at one, compared to Upper Dublin’s one, which was Bondi’s successful free kick. They earned four corners in the first 40 minutes compared to UD’s zero.

“I thought we actually played really well in the first half,” Pettican said. “I think that was probably our downfall. We came into the second half thinking it was a bit too in our favor, came out a bit soft, slow and it came back to bite us. We left it too little, too late, scored a goal in the last minute. Before you know it, time ran out.”

Upper Dublin 3, CB South 2

CB South 1 1 – 2

Upper Dublin 1 2 – 3

Goals: CBS: Thijs Popma, Owen Tyson. UD: Miles Bondi 2, Erik Petushi.

Assists: CBS: Nate McCloud. UD: Christian Broome.

Saves: CBS: 2. UD: Gabriel Loza 7.