SOUDERTON – Midway through the second half of Tuesday’s SOL contest against Souderton, North Penn’s Dylan Harris – shadowed tightly by a pair of Indian defenders – somehow found his way to goal for the score.
Less than a minute later, Harris fired a shot across goal into the opposite corner of the net for a score that put the Knights on top 9-2. Any thoughts of a second-half comeback by the Indians – who trailed 6-0 at the half – were officially put to rest.
The Knights went on to earn a 10-4 win over their neighboring rival. It was their first win of the young season after three straight losses.
“This was very important,” said North Penn coach Jeff Greiner. “We played three very, very tough teams, and it was good for our confidence to go out and get a win in the books.”
Those three tough teams were some of the area’s better squads – Owen J. Roberts, Central Bucks East and Hatboro-Horsham.
“We got beat pretty bad by those teams, but we know what we need to do throughout the season to prepare for them later on,” Harris said.
The Knights undoubtedly exhaled when – from the opening face-off – they found themselves in a game where they could dictate the tempo.
“The teams we have been playing have had really good stickwork, and they have been to control of the pace of the game,” Harris said. “It was just good for our confidence to be able to dictate the way this game went.”
Harris and teammate Paul Reutemann each connected for the hat trick to lead the Knights. Reutemann also had an assist, and for an inexperienced Knight squad that graduated 15 seniors from last year’s squad, Tuesday’s game was just what the doctor ordered.“We needed to have confidence in our offense and know it’s going to work and also our defense because we have been giving up a lot of goals recently,” Harris said. “It’s really a big confidence builder.”
The Indians, who received a standout 11-save effort from goalie Grant Nice, managed to play the Knights even in the second half after falling behind 6-0 in the first half.
“We have been a second half team all year,” Souderton coach. Todd Pettit said. “We have trouble bringing the intensity early. We make mental mistakes early, and it takes us a while to get back into it.
“I’m pleased that we have leadership and play hard until the last minute, but I would like to think we’re a smarter team than we’ve shown, particularly in the beginning of the game.”
The Knights took a quick 2-0 lead in the first quarter, scoring a pair of goals within a 10-second span. Reutemann connected for the first and then assisted on a Nick McPeak goal in a quarter that saw the Knights hold a 7-1 advantage in shots.
In the second quarter, the Knights continued their dominance. Reutemann beat the Indians’ defense for a goal four minutes into the quarter, and then it was Chris Young connecting for a 4-0 North Penn lead.
Harris scored a goal out of a Knight timeout with 1:23 remaining, and 22 seconds later, Reutemann scored off the draw for a 6-0 halftime lead.“The first half, we wanted to be patient,” Greiner. “We wanted to control the ball and take good shots. We felt like we were able to get the shots from the points on the field that we wanted.
“Their goalie made some very, very good saves, which threw us off our game a little bit and we started to rush, but in the first half, we played pretty well. The boys were working real hard, and we were running our offense and making the changes we wanted to make.”
Eighteen seconds into the third quarter, the Indians found themselves playing with a two-man advantage, thanks to a pair of slashing calls against the Knights, and they capitalized. Josh Burke turned a pass from teammate Sean Becker into a goal, and the Indians – after recovering a loose ball near midfield – cut the Knights’ lead to four when Josh Reynolds found Bryan Ziegler for a goal at the 8:57 mark.
“Sean and the other offenders really stepped up big in the second half,” Souderton junior defenseman Brad Sawhill said. “(Scoring those goals was) a momentum changer, and lacrosse is a momentum sport. Goals come in bunches.”
The Knights answered with a 3-0 run to close out the quarter. Matt Shaw (McPeak assist) scored, and then it was Harris connecting on back-to-back goals.
North Penn’s lead grew to 10-2 after an Alex Perri goal, and the Indians closed out the scoring with goals by Becker and J.P. Carroll (Lee Stiles assist).
While the Knights improved to 1-2 in league play (1-3 overall), the Indians are 0-3 in the league (1-4 overall).
NORTH PENN 10, SOUDERTON 4
North Penn 6 4-10
Souderton 0 4-4
Goals/Assists: NP – Paul Reutemann 3-1, Dylan Harris 3-0, Nick McPeak 1-1, Chris Young 1-0, Matt Shaw 1-0, Alex Perri 1-0. Souderton – Sean Becker 1-1, Josh Burke 1-0, Bryan Ziegler 1-0, J.P. Carroll 1-0, Josh Reynolds 0-1, Lee Stiles 0-1.
Shots: NP-23, S-14
Saves: Shayne Dwyer (NP) 4, Tom Conaway (NP) 3, Grant Nice (S) 11.
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