Methacton handles Upper Dublin, advances to District 1-3A second round

UPPER DUBLIN >> Sydney Tornetta scored four goals to lead No. 20 Methacton to a 12-6 win over No. 13 Upper Dublin in the first round of the District 1 Class 3A playoffs at Upper Dublin High School Tuesday afternoon.

The Warriors took control of the game in the middle of the first half. Mia Sheldon scored to break a 2-2 tie and put Methacton ahead for good. Tornetta scored twice and Julie Byrne once in the next 3:17 to complete the 4-0 run and make it 6-2 Methacton.

“We’ve been practicing our offense,” Methacton coach Laurie Markle said. “This is a young offense. I don’t have a lot but we’ve been practicing and practicing and practicing that and they were able to finally see some players. We actually had a lot more assisted shots than we usually do.”

The sides traded goals over the final 6:18 of the half — with Erin Hardenburg and Tornetta scoring for Methacton and Aly Breslin and Jenn McCarry for Upper Dublin — to send the game to intermission with the Warriors ahead, 8-4.

“At first our coach was telling us that we were throwing lob passes and our passes weren’t good,” Tornetta said, “but I think that once we were seeing the open cuts and we were actually aiming and shooting we were making them. That was really good. After that everybody gained their confidence and it just kept going and the momentum kept going.

“When we would possess it and look for the one shot, I think that really worked for us well. As soon as we would work it around and shoot it worked for us. Once we kept doing that we kept going and doing it over and over again.”

The Cardinals got on the board first in the second half on a Maddie Templeton goal to cut the deficit to three, but that’s as close as they’d get.

Methacton rattled off the next four goals — one from each of Tornetta, Hardenburg, Sheldon and Byrne — to put the game out of reach at 12-5 with 3:49 to play.

Upper Dublin’s Caroline Wall finished off the scoring with a tally to make it 12-6.

“We’ve worked on a lot of our stick skills,” Upper Dublin coach Dee Cross said. “Even Laurie (Markle) was saying how good our stick skills are, but we just could not figure it out today. We were our own worst enemy in the beginning with the turnovers, then all of the sudden it became like an epidemic. We just could not hold on to the ball. Individually we had some great efforts all over the field, but we just could not string together any kind of consistency.”

Tornetta led the Warriors with four goals while Byrne, Sheldon and Hardenburg each had two. Byrne also assisted on three of Tornetta’s scores.

“We’ve played for the past two years together,” Tornetta said of herself and Byrne. “So I think both of us know where we like to shoot, where we like to get our passes. She knows me well like that so she knows exactly where I want it and where I’m going to shoot it. That’s where (the chemistry) comes from.”

Six different Cardinals scored. Julia Reardon gave UD its only lead at 1-0 and Mack Moore scored early on to tie the game at two.

Methacton advances to the second round, where it will face No. 4 Central Bucks West Thursday. The Bucks are coming off a first-round bye. The teams have some familiarity with each other after scrimmaging during the preseason.

“They’re always strong,” Markle said. “They’re strong — that’s why they got a bye. It’ll be a tough game. They’re a good team.”

The loss brings an end to Upper Dublin’s 2018 season. The Cardinals will graduate five seniors.

“It’s a tough way to end a season,” Cross said. “Someone has to lose in this situation. I thank the seniors for all that they’ve done for the program the last four years, but it’s always hard to lose on that kind of note.

“We had some girls that have never played before … We have good athletes and now they have to learn the game of lacrosse. I think if that happens and our stick skills improve, next year we’re looking forward to some good things. Overall it was a good season. We had some great wins in the beginning of the season. We had a great spring break trip with some good games in Texas. Then it wasn’t consistent when we needed it in those big games. We’ll learn from that and hopefully the younger girls are going to pick it up for next year.”