Upper Dublin came up short in Wednesday’s District 1 2A title game against Penncrest. Photos provided courtesy of Michael Rice Photography. Check back for a gallery of photos.
District 1 2A championship game
#4 Penncrest 13, #3 Upper Dublin 8
The Flying Cardinals’ first trip to the district title game in a decade didn’t have the outcome they’d hoped for against a talented Central League squad. They trailed 6-3 at halftime and never could get over the hump.
UD was led by the four-point game of Tristen McNichol while Matthew Shohen added a hat trick.
Penncrest was led by Aaron Goldstein’s four-goal, one-assist effort.
By the numbers: Upper Dublin: Tristen McNichol (3G, 1A), Chase Foster (2A),
Matthew Shohen (3G), Nate Brown (2G), Vinny Afflisio (8 F/O wins), Ben Shervin (7 Saves)
Upper Dublin coach Pat Lacon:
--The game: “Penncrest did a great job of not allowing us to go on any type of run. We would score a goal, and we’d be starting to gain some momentum, and then they would go right back out and shut down any momentum that we could have gathered, and that was tough.
“They have a very talented player, Aaron Goldstein. He’s going to Drexel, and he’s tough – he’s a handful, especially when he has the ball. He had some shots in perfectly placed locations, and they fell.
“I thought we played really well at times and just didn’t capitalize or we just made a simple mistake that we normally would have cleaned up. When you are at that stage of the game, it’s capitalizing on mistakes, and they did a really good job with that, so hats off to them.”
--The journey: “I talk to our guys a lot about the journey and we have to embrace the journey we’re on. We can’t worry about someone else’s journey. We have to worry about our own. We also
have to work on making sure that we play as a collective group because six guys are much better than one, so when we’re firing on all cylinders, a lot of really good stuff happens. Tonight, we were a little bit more disjointed.
“The hardest part is – I didn’t want to make this game bigger than it was. It was a regular game. We’ve played Central League schools, we’ve done all that stuff already, so we’ve been experienced, and I think the game became a championship and not a game, and we have to experience that as part of our journey. I don’t want to make it sound like it’s bad because it’s not. But you got to go through those events to be able to gain experience and become seasoned.
“Penncrest hasn’t been there in a while either, so it’s not like they were in (the championship game) year after year, so they were inexperienced as well, so really, it was anyone’s game. Unfortunately, we just made too many simple mistakes, and those simple mistakes would compound.
“Hats off to those guys, but they also gave us a ton of credit because they’re like, - ‘You guys don’t give up.’ Literally we just kept coming, so it is what it is.”
--Bound for states: “I definitely think this is going to help us. It opened our kids’ eyes in the ability to see – ‘Listen, we are there. It’s just who’s the team that’s going to have all the pieces together? Who’s the team that’s going to have the ball bounce their way?’ I did not think it bounced our way, which hey - that’s life.”
Up next: Upper Dublin will travel to District 11 champion Moravian Academy for Tuesday’s opening round of the PIAA 2A State Tournament.
Upper Dublin 3-5 8
Penncrest 6-7 13
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