Aggressive Marple Newtown knocks off Upper Dublin

UPPER DUBLIN — Down four starters, the eighth-seeded Upper Dublin Cardinals knew they had their work cut out for them.

A pair of concussions, a broken finger, and a sprained ankle had struck at exactly the wrong time.

On the other side, the No. 9 Marple Newtown Tigers were riding a four-game winning streak, and they stepped off the bus in “orange mode.”

“When we’re at our most aggressive playing and communicating, we call it ‘orange mode,’” Marple Newtown senior Olivia Dwyer said. “Instead of being like, ‘Let’s get angry’ or whatever, we scream, ‘Let’s get orange!” to get ready to go and to come out stronger than the other team.”

If orange was the objective, the Tigers were fire.

Dwyer scored twice to power Marple Newtown to a hard-fought, 2-0 victory over Upper Dublin in the opening round of the District 1-2A playoffs Tuesday.

Marple Newtown, out of Delaware County’s Central League, generated nine shots on goal while limiting the Cardinals to just three.

With the win, the Tigers (10-9-1) advance to a second-round matchup Thursday against top-seeded Villa Maria Academy (11-3), which blasted No. 16 Oxford 13-0 in a Monday game.

“I think with all the injuries, and knowing their next game would be against the No. 1 seed, I’m not sure if the girls had the most positive outlook today,” Upper Dublin coach Emily Town said. “I think that affected their intensity. But you also have to give (Marple Newtown) credit for how they played.”

Undermanned, Upper Dublin (11-7-1) had to field several freshmen who have promising talent but little varsity experience.

“I think if we were at our full health, this game might have gone differently,” Town said. “It ***** we weren’t able to get the ball up into our offensive circle and score as much as we were hoping for. If we would have played the way we played a little earlier in the season, maybe we could have won this game.”

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Marple Newtown’s Olivia Dwyer, 7, comes off the field as teammate Sophie Jackson prepares to check in against Upper Dublin during the first round of the District 1-AA field hockey playoffs at Upper Dublin High School on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (Christiaan DeFranco/MediaNews Group)