Boys' LAX: Flying Cardinals End Season with Loss to Spring-Ford, 10-9

In his 10 years at the helm of the Flying Cardinals, John Levine has built a once fledgling program into a perennial district playoff contender.

On Monday night, Upper Dublin traveled to Spring-Ford to take on the recently crowned Pioneer Athletic Conference champion in the first round of the PIAA District One playoffs, and for the first half, Upper Dublin looked more like the team boasting a 16-0 league record.

Upper Dublin (12-7) got off to a great start, fueled by the emotion of seniors Will Beury and Andy Lunney as the duo posted goals in the first seven minutes, giving the Cards a 2-0 lead as the home team faithful were still finding their seats.

The Flying Cardinals extended the lead to three when Beury found midfielder Leighton Young sliding through the slot, giving Young a perfect feed as he beat Rams' goaltender Jared Novia on the short side.

“We were pumped to get started tonight,” said Beury. “Our plan was to possess the ball and look for the cutters. They had a hard time matching up with us to start, after they made some adjustments and got more disciplined with their zone and stopped chasing us.”

UD ended the first quarter on a high note as Lunney (two goals, one assist) found the twine for the second time with 34.3 seconds left, answering the Rams first tally of the game by senior Brian Bock, which regained the momentum that the Cards had snared to start the tilt.

“I was very pleased with the intensity we had to start the game,” said Levine. “These guys left absolutely everything out on that field. We came in here as a 22 seed, and to battle them like that says a lot about our kids. If they told us we had a game on Thursday, we would be ready against anyone, that’s how much they love to play this game with each other.”

Spring-Ford’s offense got on track in the second quarter by cutting the UD lead to one when senior Drew Thomas (four goals, three assists), who had a hat trick in the period, scored with 8.7 seconds left to give the home squad a boost as they headed into the intermission.

“They really gave our game back to us in the beginning of the game,” said Thomas, “We didn’t adjust right away defensively, and we kept shooting the ball wide and into the goalie in the first half. We just talked at halftime about getting back to our game and focusing on each possession.”

Spring-Ford tied the game for the first time since the opening face off at the 10:50 mark of the third quarter when Thomas found Max Ullman cutting to the net and hit him in stride, which Ullman put past sophomore goal tender Jack Deragon.

“Jack played great in net,” said Beury. “He is the complete deal. Look for him to be stud goalie in the next couple of seasons. We broke down in front of him a couple of times, which cost us on the scoreboard.”

Thomas scored his fourth goal of the evening with 6:48 left in the third to give the Spring-Ford its first lead of the night at 7-6, before the squads exchanged goals by Brian Bock and Drew Potts to head into the final period with the Rams leading 8-7.

“We kind of got a little out of our game plan in the second half,” said Beury, who had a chance to tie the game with less than 30 seconds left as he possessed the ball in the Rams zone. “We let them get the momentum back, and they used it to get back into the game and eventually take the lead.”

With 30 seconds remaining in the third period, the Flying Cardinals got an outstanding opportunity to tie the game when Max Ullman was called for a technical foul, giving the Cards a man-up chance as they closed out the third and started the fourth period, but UD could not convert.

“We needed to get a goal when we had the advantage, and didn’t,” said Deragon. “The guys played great tonight, we really came out in fire, but just couldn’t keep that intensity up all game.” 

Ten seconds after the Ullman penalty expired, attacker Andrew Lunney was called for a slash, which gave Spring-Ford a man-up chance, which they took advantage of as Bock promptly deposited a feed from Thomas into the net, giving the Rams a two goal lead.

With time dwindling in regulation, and the Flying Cardinals trailing by just one goal following a laser by Beury that found the back of the Ram net with 1:02 left, it was Beury that carried the ball deep into the Spring-Ford zone, but after being smothered by the Rams defense, found no option but to toss it out front to Young.

Young ripped a shot toward the Rams net as time expired, but it sailed just wide, ending the Upper Dublin season.

“I was coming down right and buried myself, and couldn’t make a pass,” added Beury. “Then when I went to roll, they stayed disciplined and realized I had no shot angle, so I had to pass it back in front. I am disappointed we couldn’t get the win, but I am proud to have played with this bunch of guys. We really all played together all season as a team.”

Upper Dublin                4            2            1            2            -9

Spring-Ford                 1            4            3            2            -10

Upper Dublin scoring

Will Beury- 4 goals, 3 assists

Andy Lunney-  2 goals, assist

Leighton Young-  2 goals, 2 assists

Liam Duke- assist

Drew Potts- goal

Spring-Ford scoring

Drew Thomas- 4 goals, 3 assists

Brian Bock- 4 goals, assist

Thomas Pham- assist

Paul Major- goals, assist

Zach Manzo- assist

Max Ullman- goal

Goaltending-  Novia (SF)  7 saves

                        Deragon 13 saves