DELHI _ Climate change, as it applies to Delhi's boys soccer team, has nothing to do with the Earth's temperature.
Instead, it's about how the Bulldogs _ at a school so steep in football tradition that the field on which they beat Walton, 6-1, Wednesday is named after 43rd-year football coach Dave Kelly _ have steadily built their program.
It's one that started at the varsity level in 1987 and hasn't enjoyed much success since. As recently as 2004, Delhi finished with a 6-10 record.
The Bulldogs improved to 11-8-1 the next season and 12-5-2 in 2006. Last fall, they finished 18-1, ending the 2007 season with a 1-0 loss to Marathon in a Section Four Class C semifinal.
En route to a 12-0 record this fall, including an 11-0 mark in the Midstate Athletic Conference after Wednesday's victory, the Bulldogs have outscored their opposition, 74-5.
"When I first started playing, we were losing games, 8-0, and now we're winning games, 8-0," said Delhi senior standout Avery Meehan, far and away the boys soccer scoring leader within The Daily Star's circulation area with 23 goals and nine assists. "It's definitely changed."
These Bulldogs showed Wednesday that the root of their success begins with a precise, short-passing game run by agile athletes. Their pass-and-cut style led to a 31-1 advantage in shots, and if not for some quality work by Walton goalie Brian Schuppel, the score Wednesday would have been much worse.
The team's five seniors _ Meehan, Mike Morales, Troy Tucker, Eddie Reed and Ryan Taylor _ combined for four goals and five assists against the Warriors.
"The last two years, they've meant everything," Bulldogs coach Brian Rolfe said of the seniors, who were honored at halftime. "They're the heart and soul of the team, and they've been together a long time."
From the outset, Delhi peppered Schuppel, who somehow kept things scoreless for nearly 16 minutes. Meehan banged a shot off the left post 40 seconds into play, and Schuppel saved Justin Roberts' follow-up shot from close range. A minute later, Schuppel made a diving save to deny Ben Gifford on a 12-yard shot. Schuppel also dived to thwart Reed 13 minutes into play.
"He made some saves that 90 percent of the goalies in the league would not have made," Rolfe said of Schuppel, who stopped 11 shots before giving way to Peter Adams with about 25 minutes left. "He's the best goalie in the league."
But with 24:06 left in the first half, Delhi broke through. Reed chipped a ball to the top of box from the left wing that Taylor got his head on. Taylor caught up to the deflection in the middle of the box and took a shot that deflected off Schuppel and into the air. Morales then headed it in from 5 yards.
About 2 1/2 minutes later, Taylor beat a Walton defender to a loose ball on the left side of the box and played a short pass forward to Morales, who was 1-on-1 with Schuppel. Morales shot low from 12 yards into the right corner to make it 2-0.
For much of the game, Delhi attacked the middle of Walton's defense, using short throughballs and side passes to set up opportunities.
"The last time we played, they used the sideline and crossed balls," said Warriors coach Andy Gates, whose team lost to Delhi by the same 6-1 score at Walton on Sept. 12. "This time, they beat us down the middle with combination passing. As good as they are, they can beat you in many ways."
The Warriors (7-5-1, 7-4-1), who had gone 5-1-1 over their past seven games, scored on their lone shot with 15:39 left in the first half. Dale Morley set up for a free kick on the left side from 37 yards and lofted a shot to the far post over goalie Pat Cobane and just under the crossbar.
But Meehan helped restore the Bulldogs' two-goal lead with 2:28 left before halftime. He intercepted a goal kick about 40 yards out and dribbled around a defender before sending a diagonal pass that gave Reed a 1-on-1 chance on the left wing. Reed finished to the far post.
Gifford scored twice and Reed had one goal in the second half for the Bulldogs, who substituted liberally over the final 20 minutes.
"We usually start out small with our goals," Meehan said. "We usually say we want to win the Downsville Tournament and we want to win the MAC, but this year we mentioned sectionals, which was different."
A sure sign the climate in Delhi has changed.
Delhi 6, Walton 1
Walton1 0 _ 1
Delhi3 3 _ 6
Walton (7-5-1, 7-4-1): Dale Morley 1-0.
Delhi (12-0, 11-0): Mike Morales 2-0, Eddie Reed 2-1, Avery Meehan 0-1, Ryan Taylor 0-3, Ben Gifford 2-0, Nick Meehan 0-1.
Shots-corner kicks: W 1-0; D 31-3.
Goalies: Brian Schuppel (W) 11, Peter Adams 4; Pat Cobane (D) 0.
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Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.
