UPPER DUBLIN >> Taking penalties is a fluid situation for the Upper Dublin boys soccer team.
“What we do is whoever’s feeling the most confident takes the PK,” the Cardinals’ Anthony Wisdo said. “And I was feeling confident there cause I got fouled so that’s why I took the PK.”
Late in an even first half of Tuesday night’s District 1-AAAA first round matchup between ninth-seeded UD and visiting No. 24 Penncrest, Wisdo left no doubt he was the rest player to step up to the spot.
After being taken down in the box chasing a ball sent in the air towards the goal, the senior forward calmly converted the penalty for the opening tally at 5:18, blasting a shot into the right side of the net as Lions goalkeeper Keiran Wilmot guessed the other way.
“Every player should finish from 12 yards out,” Wisdo said.
Wisdo was not done on the night – assisted on the Cardinals’ second goal less than eight minutes into the second half than collecting a brace with under five minutes left as Upper Dublin advanced with a 3-0 victory.
“They’re a very good team. They have a very good league. I think that’s why they were such a low seed,” Wisdo said. “But the first half I think we came out a little edgy. We were very scared, we were anxious. But I think in the second half after the PK we came out of the first half 1-0, we calmed down, played the soccer that we know we can play and I think we out-possessed them.”
Upper Dublin advances to second round of the district postseason for a second straight season with the Suburban One League American Conference champions visiting No. 9 Central Bucks East Thursday.
“I think we need to come out like we did the second half this game,” Wisdo said. “And I think we possess we’re going to have a good run at them. I don’t know really much about East this year, I know that they’re a very, very good side, but I think that our players are very good themselves, so I think we’ll have a good time.
Penncrest was back in the district playoffs for the first time since 2014, when it was upset by West Chester East in the first round.
“We had a school-record team two seasons ago, then we had a five win team last year and to bounce back with an 11-win, an 11-6-1 record this year with only losing five seniors was great,” Penncrest coach Paul Norris said. “They were just a really resilient bunch. Just a shame to see it end.”
The Lions, the lowest seeded in the 4A field, kept the pressure on the Upper Dublin defense for good chunks of the first half and came close to pulling level at a goal each early in the second half. A ball played forward deflected of a Cardinal and behind the backline for an all-alone Shea Morgan, but UD keeper Jason Stone reached out and denied the shot.
“We had several great opportunities and they were just off the mark,” Norris said. “We had them on their heels and we had just that one mental mistake in the box and they get that penalty shot. That’s the sadness and the beauty of the game. It’s just one little thing leads to something else that leads to something else (that) leads to something else and then you get a crazy outcome.”
Shortly after Stone’s save, the Cardinals made it 2-0 on a free kick that Wisdo sent into the box towards a group of Cardinals charging towards the right post and Max Adams was the one who headed it into the back of the net at 32:23.
“Max got injured the play before and he was limping and I was like ‘Come on man, get up. Get yourself a goal,’” Wisdo said. “He was on the back post, I usually aim for Adams and (Jake) Chinn and they were there, Adams put it in.”
The Cardinals kept pushing for a third goal and came close before Wisdo’s second. Jerry Barstol had shot cleared off the goal line by a Penncrest defender while Jose Palomeque effort was just deflected wide by the hand of Wilmot.
Trying to pull back to within a goal, Penncrest forced a handful of corners in the second half, but couldn’t put a ball past Stone. The Cards keeper also used his feet to denied Sam Brown a chance.
Upper Dublin went up 3-0 with 4:39 left as Barstol cut inside before sending a pass into the middle for Wisdo, who slid a shot past Wilmot.