Upper Dublin alone atop SOL American after handing Springfield-Montco first loss
SPRINGFIELD >> The Upper Dublin girls lacrosse team lost a four-goal lead in the second half Friday afternoon. But the Cardinals never lost their composure and in a matchup of the last two sides undefeated in SOL American Conference play, found a way to have the final say.
Springfield-Montco rattled off four straight goals to pull even at six with 17:29 left in regulation but Upper Dublin kept the host Spartans from finding the back of the net the rest of the way.
Anna DiMartile broke the tie at 14:08 after UD forced a turnover while a Kelly Senior tally doubled the advantage and the Cardinals held on to claim an 8-6 victory.
“Obviously when a team starts to come back you get a little nervous,” Upper Dublin junior Paige Dinkel said. “But our coaches do a good job of not putting a lot of pressure on us. So we had a time out and they said just play your game, don’t worry about them, get the ball, fake out the goalie. And I think that really calmed and allowed us to score the next however many goals we scored to keep the lead.”
Dinkel finished with a game-best four goals – collecting a hat trick in the first half – while DiMartile had two goals and an assist for the Cardinals (13-3, 9-0 SOL American), who won their third straight to hold a one-game lead over both Springfield and Upper Moreland in their bid to earn the program’s first SOL conference title since 2013.
“I think it was just all our defense,” Dinkel said. “At the end we didn’t let off a single shot because we kept blocking them and keeping them out of the eight and I think our defense is really credited with getting us the win today.”
Fiona Rizzo and Maddie McDevitt both scored twice to pace Springfield, which was handed its first loss of the season. The Spartans (14-1, 8-1) never led but gave themselves a chance to go ahead with their 4-0 run that began with junior Rizzo recording her 100th career goal on an eight-meter shot at 23:11 in the second half.
“It’s so special, so meaningful,” said Springfield coach Marissa Conover of Rizzo’s milestone. “She’s a quiet attacker, she’s a junior that got her 100th goal so she’s not a senior so that’s really special but I think we have so much talent that she’s a quiet, special talent in the back there. She’s kind of unsuspecting. And she remains calm and she’s a huge part of our attack.”
Maddie McDevitt scored just 13 seconds later to make it 6-4 while Rizzo struck again to cut Springfield’s margin to one at 18:26. Emma Yoder put the Spartans on level terms by converting on a drive at 17:29.
“I think Fiona felt like OK I can score and it kind of broke the ice and she went again and then she was able to score,” Conover said. “And I saw that in the second half, it didn’t break us through, but Maddie McDevitt eventually just went to goal and I think before that we were kind of just looking for the open spot and there wasn’t one and a little bit nervous and missing the feeds and stuff. So we were trying to break the ice but once Fiona got the 100th goal it was the energy and all that.”
A little more than four minutes later, Upper Dublin responded with what ended up being the winning tally. After forcing a turnover along the sideline in the Spartan half, the ball came to DiMartile and the sophomore sent an overhand shot into the net at 14:08.
“I was like just get it off my stick,” DiMartile said.
Senior struck with 10:58 remaining to push UD’s advantage to 8-6 with the Cardinals seeing out the way by maintaining possession in the final minutes.
“We had the 6-6 tie and then we didn’t capitalize again and then the turnover and they just kind of held onto it,” Conover said. “So I would’ve loved to have another goal or to fight at the end rather than let the time play out but it was an amazing game.”
Upper Dublin, which has won 12 of its last 13, can clinch at least a share of the SOL American title with a win at Upper Moreland 7 p.m. Monday. The Cards, ninth in the District 1-3A rankings, cap their regular season hosting Cheltenham 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“Things are working for us right now,” DiMartile said. “And I think staying focused in practice and still having fun but just staying focused and keeping good in practice.”
Springfield, second in the District 1-2A rankings, has three games remaining before the postseason – at Abington 7 p.m. Monday, hosting Wissahickon 7 p.m. Wednesday then a nonleague road game against Harriton 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Dinkel gave Upper Dublin a 1-0 lead at 19:02 in the first half with Allie Gay scoring the Cards’ second at 15:16.
“Their goalie (Tess Talbot) is a phenomenal goalie but I think just once we get that first goal off it gave us the confidence to just keep shooting,” DiMartile said.
Springfield’s Sam McDevitt struck on an eight-meter to make it 2-1 at 11:12 but goals from Dinkel then DiMartile – both on eight-meters – pushed UD’s advantage to 4-1.
Maddie McDevitt had the Spartans within 4-2 at 7:53 before Dinkel posted her third goal off a DiMartile assist at 2:03 and the Cardinals went into halftime up three.
Dinkel tallied her fourth of the afternoon just 59 seconds after the break to give Upper Dublin its largest lead at 6-2.
Upper Dublin 8, Springfield 6
Springfield 2 4 – 6
Upper Dublin 5 3 – 8
Upper Dublin Goals: Paige Dinkel 4; Anna DiMartile 2; Allie Gay; Kelly Senior.
Springfield Goals: Maddie McDevitt 2; Fiona Rizzo 2; Sam McDevitt; Emma Yoder.
