North Penn & Central Bucks West have earned a date in Friday’s PIAA 4A state title game at Hersheypark Stadium. North Penn/La Salle photos provided by Keith Clemens Photography. CLICK HERE for a gallery of photos. (CB West file photo provided courtesy of Marge Bullock http://www.margebullock.com )
#1-1 NORTH PENN 4, #12-1 LA SALLE 0
WARRINGTON – The North Penn Knights are Hershey bound.
On a bitterly cold November evening, the Knights added another chapter to their historic postseason run, opening up a 1-0 halftime lead and then erupting for three second-half goals in another impressive outing to earn their program’s first ever trip to the state final.
“It’s surreal,” senior captain Mike Chaffee said. “We worked so hard. All the hours – this is exactly where we want to be.
“We’re happy we could erase the history of past years. It’s a surreal feeling, but we all know we have to execute the next game, we know we have to come out and play. It all comes down to this. We don’t want anything less than a trophy.”
The Knights celebrated their historic win with the large crowd of fans who braved the elements, but the players are clear in their resolve – they’re not finished yet.
“The three goals at the beginning of the season are always league, district, state,” senior captain Jamie Stewart said. “The past few years we haven’t been to the district final. We’ve lost early on, and just being able to come out and win the conference, win the district and now we’re on the final piece of our journey – we have one more game to do everything we want in this season.”
With just under nine minutes remaining in an evenly played first half, Sawyer Meade – who had several clutch saves in the opening half – delivered a diving stop of a Brandon Curran shot. Shortly thereafter, a corner kick by Carter Houlihan set up a header by Jamie Stewart on the left post that spotted the Knights a 1-0 lead with 7:18 remaining in the first half.
Execution on set pieces has become the norm for a North Penn squad that has outscored its opponents 11-4 in three state tournament games.
“It was really back and forth the first half,” Stewart said. “I’ll give La Salle credit – they played their hearts out.
“Corners and set pieces have been such an emphasis all year, and just being able to get my head on that one and put it in the back of the net – it just changed everything.”
“That was huge,” coach Paul Duddy said of Stewart’s goal. “If they get the lead, more than likely it’s a different game.
“That score line does not represent what this game was. The first half they had chances, we had chances – great high school soccer. It just went our way the second half.”
The second half belonged to the Knights, and the tone was set when – just over eight minutes in – Chaffee scored on the rebound of a goalie save.
“Carter (Houlihan) got the ball down the right side flank, he dribbled it in, took a hard shot, deflected off the keeper and it went right to my feet, and I was able to put it in,” said Chaffee.
The senior captain also had an assist on the game’s final goal and is making his presence felt after missing the entire District One 4A Tournament with mono.
“That’s pretty special to have him come back,” Duddy said. “He’s a senior, and he’s a captain – he’s just a terrific kid, so to see him come back and get (a goal and an assist) in the state semifinal, that was huge.”
“It seems like I haven’t missed a beat,” Chaffee said. “I feel good, the strength is there, I’m able to make plays and put it in the net still, so I’m happy about that.”
The Knights continued to pressure, but their attempts to add to their lead were thwarted by the Explorers’ defense. Midway through the half, Meade delivered another big save, and any thoughts of a La Salle comeback were all but put to rest when – with 14:46 remaining – the Explorers were awarded a penalty kid that missed high.
An own gaol by La Salle with 8:45 remaining in regulation put the Knights on top 3-0, and the Knights put the finishing touches on the big win when Sean Flatley (Chaffee assist) scored with 2:41 remaining.
“In the second half, we went to five defenders, but even when we play that system, we still get forward pretty good for the most part,” Duddy said. “When you have Carter (Houlihan) and the Stewarts, you can do stuff. I think Josh (Jones) played a phenomenal game, just winning balls everywhere.
“Sawyer (Meade), our keeper, had a great game too. He picks us up. They broke us down, and he comes up with a big save, and it’s ‘Okay, he’s got our backs.’”
Tuesday’s state semifinal win was the second win of the season for the Knights over La Salle. They defeated the Explorers 2-0 in a non-league game on Sept. 21.
“We don’t change a whole lot – when you look at our record, how much are you going to change?” Duddy said. “If we overthink it and change too many things – I’d be crazy to do that. We knew them a little better this time, we scouted them a couple of times, and they scouted us.”
Duddy glanced in the direction of a La Salle team holding its final postgame meeting.
“I’ve been making that speech way too many times over the years, so I’m glad that’s not us this year,” the Knights’ coach said.
As a result of Tuesday’s win, the Knights will be making their first ever appearance in the state title game.
“It means a lot for our coaches and myself, for our team and for the North Penn family in general,” Duddy said. “As good as we’ve been year in and year out, we’ve never gotten this far, and now this group of players has put us there, so it’s exciting.”
A familiar foe awaits the Knights in Friday’s PIAA 4A title game at Hersheypark Stadium (6:30 p.m.). North Penn will face SOL Continental Conference rival Central Bucks West. The Knights won both regular season meetings between the two teams – 5-2 on Sept. 17 and 3-1 on Oct. 10.
North Penn 1-3 4
Conestoga 0-0 0
#1-5 CENTRAL BUCKS WEST 1, #1-2 BOYERTOWN 1 (3-1 PKs)
Penalty kicks are not for the faint of heart, and no one is under more pressure than the goalkeeper. Stop one of five PK’s, and there’s a good chance your team will win. Stop two, and the odds are heavily in your squad’s favor. Stonewalling three of four PKs – that’s all but unheard of.
Also unheard of is the district’s 23rd seed advancing to the state final. West – behind the heroic effort of goalie Ryan Van Pelt – managed to pull off both feats in the same night, and the Bucks will be facing SOL Continental archrival North Penn in Friday’s state title game at Hersheypark Stadium.
“When a coach says ‘We need someone to step up, and we need a hero moment,’ you typically think that means – someone go score a goal,” West coach Stefan Szygiel said. “Hero moments for us through the years and through this year – once again in a PK shootout and in an elimination game, Ryan Van Pelt stepped up.”
Van Pelt punched the Bucks’ ticket to Hershey with three saves – the final one nothing short of spectacular or as Szygiel called it, “a man save” – on four shots to give the Bucks the heartstopping win.
“All I’ll say is we continue to believe in our goalkeeper, and our goalkeeper believes in himself,” Szygiel said. “Typically in PKs, a keeper makes one, maybe two saves. I get that. We’ve seen pretty much everything this season, including that.”
Van Pelt, meanwhile, made it sound as easy as he made it look.
“It’s mainly just reading them when they put the ball down, how their hips are facing when they’re running up to the ball – just in the moment things,” the Bucks’ senior keeper said. “The only thing in my mind really is just looking at the players, seeing what they’re doing and seeing if they could give me anything to say which way I should dive. I definitely knew I could do it.
“We were in this situation earlier in the season, and it just comes down to practice and just being prepared. I was just excited and I was really proud for the boys because we have worked really hard to this point just to get here.”
The two teams battled to a scoreless halftime tie.
“I think it was what you’d expect in a game of this magnitude – both teams were trying to feel each other out,” Szygiel said. “It’s two very contrasting styles of play.
“We had to minimize opportunities for two or three of their more dynamic players to get on the ball. We knew they were going to get on the ball sometimes, and when they did, we were just going to try to weather the storm. We defended collectively like we do.”
With 27 minutes remaining in the second half, Reed Thompson scored with a Conor O’Brien assist.
“Conor O’Brien put a ball forward and Reed Thompson was able to put a real nice finish on it,” Szygiel said.
That 1-0 lead held for all of 10 minutes when the Bears’ Beckett Wenger connected for the equalizer.
“They had a little bit of pressure for 5-10 minutes,” Szygiel said. “I think we dropped in too deep and defended, and we started giving up set pieces. They put a good ball in the box, and they had a second chance opportunity. One of their guys came in and finished. The rest of (regulation) was probably tilted in their direction, but we got it to overtime.
“We’re not a stranger to overtime games this year. Really, the game plan for us stays the same. Someone has to step up and find a hero moment. It needs to be a hero moment, but we also continue to value the clean sheet. In overtime, you have to have a clean sheet.”
Both teams had their opportunities, but the respective defenses held.
“We had three or four quality chances, so I think the overtime tilted in our favor,” Szygiel said. “They’re very well coached and organized. They defended numbers.
“It goes to PKs – we’ve been in that situation before. We just have to trust the guys are going to be mature, they’re going to be consistent and they’re going to be composed, and tonight they were.”
Boyertown connected on its first PK, but James Lutz found the back of the net with his to knot the score 1-1. Van Pelt began his remarkable string of saves, diving to his right for the stop. The Bucks led 2-1 after Ben Danzis connected. Another diving stop by Van Pelt – this time to his left – was followed by a Boyertown save of a PK by Jayden Morris.
“Jayden Morris, who has been huge for us this year – he stepped up for us a few weeks ago against Unionville and made one, and tonight he missed one,” Szygiel said. “That boy is going to have plenty of opportunities. We trust him no matter what, and he remains our shooter in that situation. Sometimes the keeper makes a save, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
That set the stage for Van Pelt’s highlight reel diving stop to his right, and when David Roy converted his penalty kick, a Bucks win was in the books.
“You assess high school sports by both talent and culture/buy-in – I do think we have all three, I think last year we had all three and the year before that we had all three,” Szygiel said. “Sometimes this is the direction it goes, but with this group, they do feel for last year’s group. I love that they carry that with them.
“Going back to last Tuesday, they wanted to beat Central Dauphin to make up for last year (a season-ending loss to CD). Then it was like, ‘Let’s just keep going.’ Now you’re in the last game of the season. It’s our 27th game, and we’d like to end the season on the right note.
“There’s something a little extra special with this group in terms of their belief. It’s one of those intangible things. They like being with each other. We want to keep playing. I think everyone played pretty well tonight. I do think we have to put in a better performance Friday.”
Central Bucks West will face North Penn for the third time this season in Friday’s PIAA 4A title game at Hersheypark Stadium,
“This is what it comes down to,” Szygiel said. “Two opponents that know each other very well, two programs that respect the heck out of each other.
“For some of the seniors on our side and their side, it’s a collection of some of the highest achieving seniors to come through this conference in a while. The fact that they’re squaring off against each other – it’s an interesting kind of thing. It speaks to the strength of the league. Last year you had the girls – Pennridge and Souderton. Now this year you have two teams from the same conference again.”
Central Bucks West 0-1-0-0 1 (3-1 PKs)
Boyertown 0-1-0-0 1
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